Own Goal
[In 1994,] Barbados needed to win the game by two clear goals in order to progress to the next round [of the Shell Caribbean Cup]. Now the trouble was caused by a daft rule in the competition which stated that in the event of a game going to over time, the winner would be awarded a 2-0 victory.
With 5 minutes to go, Barbados were leading 2-1, and going out of the tournament (because they needed to win by 2 clear goals). Then, when they realized they were probably not going to score against Grenada’s massed defense, they turned round, and deliberately scored on their own goal to level the scores and take the game into over time. Grenada, themselves not being stupid, realized what was going on, and then attempted to score an own goal themselves. However, the Barbados players started defending their opponent’s goal to prevent this.
In the last five minutes, spectators were treated to the incredible sight of both teams defending their opponent’s goal against attackers desperately trying to score an own goal and goalkeepers trying to throw the ball into their own net. The game went to OT which Barbados won and so were awarded a 2-0 victory and progressed to the next round.
