Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The video clip of the South Sudanese player, William Akio, who kicked the ball off the opponent’s goal line and deprived his teammate of a confirmed goal, sparked wide reactions and criticism that necessitated the player to break his silence and justify the situation as “the mistake.” “The usual and that he was intending to score the goal, but he missed the opportunity.
The shot that took place during the Valor team’s match against the Wanderers in the Canadian Premier League was described as “the strangest moment in the history of football.”
At the 17th minute of the match, Valor’s player received a ball from the left wing and shot it powerfully from inside the area and hit the opponent’s goalkeeper and was on its way to the net before his teammate, Akio, who was standing on the right side and strangely far from the goal line, pounced on it.
A great deal of controversy arose over this shot, which many believed was intentional by the South Sudanese player, before Akio forced himself to justify the situation.
The player wrote on his official page on Twitter: “I would like to start by expressing my happiness with the three points and the resilience of our team last night.”
Akio added, “I have already missed an opportunity in front of the completely empty goal, it is as simple as that, everyone makes mistakes in this profession, it is part of life. I will rise again, as is my habit in football and in life,” he said.
I want to start off by saying I’m happy for the 3pts and our teams resilience last night. I really just missed a WIDE OPEN net ???? it’s simple as that. Everyone makes mistakes on the job, it’s part of life. I will bounce back as I always have in life and football. https://t.co/rRvsgBlIOQ
Sports sites around the world were interested in this clip, as commented on it by a number of tweeters and those accused of sports affairs in the Arab world.