CHRIS Iwelumo certainly knows the meaning of bittersweet. Last month he scored a hat-trick for Wolverhampton Wanderers and then was sent off. On Saturday, he made his international debut and into the bargain came an appointment with infamy.
The Scottish international football team have long had a relationship with hard luck stories, but what happened on Saturday against Norway cannot be filed beneath this heading. Indeed, if anything, fortune was on Scotland's side in the lead-up to the moment when Iwelumo looked set to seal his place in the Tartan Army's affections. The striker strayed just off-side seconds before Gary Naysmith sent over an inviting ball. The linesman did not flag, and, with Norway goalkeeper Jon Knudsen stranded, Iwelumo was presented with an open goal. It is something other than simple hard luck which makes one contrive to spurn such an opportunity. Iwelumo, his body twisted at a horrible angle, tried to convert with his right boot, when, he acknowledged later, his left was better positioned to stroke the cross home.
There are other moments in Scottish football history which can be rated X-certificate, but nothing which left a player looking quite so brutally exposed, nor impacted so heavily on a manager. George Burley had staked much in the replacement of James McFadden with Iwelumo, and was a mis-cued kick away from reaping a personally glorious harvest. But this morning he surveys the wreckage; a badly-frayed World Cup dream, a seriously miffed McFadden and a striker, Kris Boyd, who no longer wishes to be considered for selection while Burley remains in charge. On such moments do careers turn. And then there is the million-dollar question: will Iwelumo be allowed to redeem himself against Argentina at Hampden Park next month?
The player's mis-kick on Saturday joins the list of horror moments in front of goal for Scotland, and quite possibly heads it. Billy Bremner's miss against Brazil in the 1974 World Cup came after Joe Jordan's header had been spilled by goalkeeper Emerson Leao. It was a good chance, clearly. But Bremner was no centre-forward, and could further claim to have already run himself into the ground as Scotland's captain – and inspiration – that day.
Then there is the chance missed against Uruguay, in the critical Group E match at Mexico 86. Steve Nicol, who on Friday, 13 June, was wearing the No 13 shirt, side-footed tamely towards what seemed an empty goal after Roy Aitken's cross from the right-wing, but Alvez, the Uruguay goalkeeper, made a remarkable recovery save. Nicol's effort was at least on target, as was Mo Johnston's attempt at goal in the final minutes of an equally decisive World Cup clash with Brazil, at the World Cup in Italy. Taffarel pulled off a point-blank save to deny the Scots, just as David Seaman did when Christian Dailly headed what looked a certain goal to bring the Euro 2000 play-off between England and Scotland level on aggregate at Wembley in 1999.
Saturday's gilt-edged chance, and the failure to take it, surely tops all these, alas. Even were Iwelumo ten years younger, it would be an error grave enough to smear a career. But Iwelumo is 30, and Saturday had meant to be the pinnacle after a moderately successful spell in lower-division football. This was the moment, he said, his mother had waited for; it is perhaps also the miss only a mother could forgive.
There is no escaping it – not today, not tomorrow, not even in the bewildered aftermath of the awful event itself. After a few dumb moments of awe the reality dawned. Iwelumo had missed. He had actually missed. Confirmation of the fact was cruelly emphatic. Peter Van Vossen, Ronnie Rosenthal and all those other perpetrators of goalmouth gaffes from years gone by were at least spared the immediate replays in the sky above them. There was an element of low comedy in Iwelumo's ordeal at Hampden Park.
"Whoever is in charge of the big screen showed Chris's miss about five times, which was nice of them," lamented goalkeeper Craig Gordon later, with a dollop of sarcasm. He agreed that the repeats had served to deflate the crowd, perhaps even the players themselves. "They didn't need to see that again and I am sure we didn't. Everybody looked up at the big screen and saw it on a number of occasions. But it has happened now. He didn't manage to score and I am sure he will come back stronger.
"He'll know he should have scored," continued Gordon. "Possibly if he was a yard further out then it would have been an easier finish, but it got caught between his feet and he wasn't able to divert it on target."
Iwelumo was pitched into an Orwellian nightmare, his miss helpfully beamed back at him from the 50-feet-wide screens positioned above both ends. "I saw the chance (on the screen] about ten seconds after it happened," the striker said later. "I am disappointed. There is always going to be a talking point when you make your debut and unfortunately it was that rather than me scoring the only goal of the day."
Iwelumo's spirit seemed to rise above the ruin of his destiny in a Scotland jersey, and which still lay as recently as an hour or so behind him as he bravely faced reporters. He answered questions from them all – television, daily and Sunday newspapers, evening titles, and radio. He managed to expertly avoid brooding rancour, and instead opted for an up-beat performance in front of the cameras and microphones. This outpouring deep inside Hampden seemed to serve a cathartic purpose.
He did not, though, attempt to argue that his miss had not proved a pivotal moment. "I just have to take it on the chin and move on," he accepted. "You have a few bad days and that is part of football. I thought my performance was good, and if I had scored then it would have been the icing on the cake. People will talk about the miss and rightly so, it was a bad miss. And it was a crucial three points lost, but we didn't lose the match and there are things to take forward.
"There is nothing to be embarrassed about," he continued. "I am a striker. I like to score goals, but missed a chance. I can't say more than that. I'll go away, look at it, analyse it, come back and show you I can score goals. I'll look at what I could do better. In hindsight I should have swung my left foot at it. On another day, it's in the net and another story. I always say that no matter how you play, there will always be chances. This was just one that hit my heel rather than my instep. I'm sure I'll get some stick, that's part and parcel."
But Iwelumo did not linger long on that dark thought. He had an elder daughter to pick up, one who on Saturday morning had said what she always says to her father before games: "kick the ball and score a goal". Life goes on. So, too, do the consequences of the moment time stood still at Hampden.
•
Masochists can watch it all again by typing "Iwelomu miss" at uk.youtube.comINFAMOUS MISSES•
Billy Bremnerv Brazil, World Cup 1974
Captain Bremner could only prod wide after goalkeeper Leao's fumble.
•
Steve Nicolv Uruguay, World Cup 1986
Needing a win to qualify from group stage, Nicol shot straight at keeper with goal gaping.
•
Mo Johnstonv Brazil, World Cup 1990
Johnston fired directly at Taffarel when ball fell to him from six yards late in game as Scots failed to take point needed to progress.
•
James McFaddenv Italy, Euro 2008 qualifier
Turned a Kenny Miller cross wide with goal gaping before Italy score winner.
The full article contains 1338 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
