Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner became a viral sensation over the weekend and now the man himself has explained exactly what was going through his mind.
In the first half of Mainz' trip to Mönchengladbach on Saturday afternoon, the 23-year old looked to play a pass in his own penalty box and get his team back on the front pass
Incredibly though, the 23-year-old didn't realise the ball was at his feet and a Sunday League-esque moment ensued.
On 4 November 2017, a lad from Rüdesheim invented 'the ghost pass' - a total fluke that will go down in history as a moment of madness. He genuinely tried to pass the penalty spot to his defender, realised what he had done, saw the Gladbach attacker hunting the ball and panicked big time.
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Luckily for Zentner, the Mönchengladbach couldn't capitalise on his mistake and Mainz retained a 1-0 lead in the opening 30 minutes, with the game finishing 1-1.
Zentner speaks to his teammate and points to where he thought the ball was. Image: PA
But Zentner's comical gaffe became a major talking point in the football world and promptly blew up on social media. Now, the shotstopper has tried to talk us through how he came to mistake the penalty spot for the ball. And his explanation is hilariously brilliant.
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As quoted by ESPN FC, he said:
"The ball was passed back to me with a bit of backspin. In the corner of my eye, I could see something white and I thought it was the ball - but it was the penalty spot and the ball was somewhere else.
"I went to play a pass into the centre but I didn't make contact with the ball, and then I realised it wasn't even there."
Here are some of the best reactions to Zentner's ghost pass:
Football, bloody hell.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football, Germany, Mainz, Bundesliga