France defender Samuel Umtiti had one of the most inexplicable plays of the World Cup on Saturday when Australia crossed a ball into the French box and Umtiti, who is not a goalkeeper, punched it. With his hand. Which is not allowed in soccer.
10 things that were possibly going through Umtiti’s head when he punched the ball and gave Australia a penalty
Umtiti baby what is you doing?
Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images
A penalty was called, Australia’s Mile Jedinak finished, and Australia and France were tied 1-1. It ended up not mattering, as Paul Pogba scored a goal late to give France a 2-1 win, but it got us thinking: What, exactly, was Umtiti thinking?
Here are 10 possibilities:
- He saw Mile Jedinak walk into the saloon, heard the piano music stop, and knew what was about to go down.
- He remembered that his manager is Didier Deschamps.
- It’s a boring game. Do the wave.
- If France are winning, Giroud doesn’t come on. But if France aren’t winning ... *taps head* *stops tapping head* *throws hands in air*
- Semaphore. Message reads: “I am doing semaphore.”
- POWERPUFF GIRLS, GO.
- You know when you’re at work, right, and the end of The Breakfast Club pops into your head? That.
- Just setting up his second trick: a slaloming own goal past Terry Fenwick and Peter Reid.
- Footballers aren’t allowed to get on football. But they *are* allowed to bet on whether or not they’ll make it into Own Goals and Gaffs 14: The Regaffening.
- He’s just a really big fan of VAR.
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