Own goal (association football)

An own goal is when a player scores in their own team's net or scoring area, not the opposing team's, during sports games in which points scored are referred to as "goals" (e.g., association football). An own goal is usually accidental, but is counted as a regular goal. It may result from an attempt at a defensive play that either failed or was unexpectedly intercepted by an opposing player. It is considered to be one of the more embarrassing blunders in all of sports.

In some parts of the world, the has become a metaphor for any action that backfires on the person/group undertaking it, sometimes even carrying a sense of "poetic justice". During The Troubles, for instance, it acquired a specific metaphorical meaning: referring to an IED (improvised explosive device) that detonated prematurely, killing the very person making or handling the bomb with the intent to harm only others. In February 1996, the death of Edward O'Brien in such an incident was followed by an article in The Independent entitled "Terrorists killed by their own devices".

In association football, an own goal occurs when a player causes the ball to go into his or her own team's goal, resulting in a goal being scored for the opposition.

The fact that the defending player touches the ball last does not automatically mean that the goal is recorded as an own goal. Only if the ball would not have gone past the goal-line but for the defending player would an own goal be credited. Thus a shot which is already "on target" would not be an own goal even if deflected by the defender. In this case the attacker is awarded the goal, even if the shot would have otherwise been easily saved by the goalkeeper. Some scorers will give credit to the attacker if the defender's mistake caused the own goal, similar to ice hockey. The Laws of the Game do not stipulate any rules or procedures for crediting goals to players, and indeed such records are not a compulsory part of the game.

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