“How Not To Handle a Backpass,” by Rémy Vercoutre

Let’s say you’re a backup goalkeeper looking to prove your value to the team. You get your chance in a Cup game where your side is heavily favored. Your side goes down 2-0 early, but then they score a goal and put you back in the game. It’s 2-1. What do you not want to do?

Ask Lyon’s Rémy Vercoutre and he’d probably say, “This.”

Yes, it was a horrible backpass, compounded by the fact that somehow not one but two attackers seem to have slipped yards past the Lyon backline and into the vicinity of the ball. But I don’t think Rémy is going to be adding this one to his Greatest Hits album anytime soon.

Lyon was knocked out of the Coupe de la Ligue yesterday by Metz, a Ligue 2 side who were relegated this year after spending last season as the Ligue 1 whipping boys. I was at a Metz-Lyon game last season that Lyon won 5-1.

I guess he who laughs last…?

Some Related Stories:

Category: French Ligue 1, World Football