Believe it or not, it happened, and it happened to the top scorer in the history of Boca Juniors. In the 1999 Copa America, Martin Palermo took three penalty kicks against Colombia and missed every single one, resulting in Argentina’s 3-0 defeat.
Today, he’s known for the 236 goals he’s scored wearing Boca’s jersey and as one of the all-time leading scorers in the Argentine league. At the age of 25, Palermo was just starting to terrorize opposing defenses and taking his first steps as an international player. His 32 goals that led Boca to the title prompted Argentina’s coach at the time, Marcelo Bielsa, to call him up for the national team for the first time (he debuted in February 1999) and entrust him at the Copa America with the place of the absent Gabriel Batistuta in the starting line up.
Palermo’s start in the tournament was ideal. Thanks to two of his goals and one from Diego Simeone, Argentina won 3-1 against Ecuador in their first group-stage match. In the second, they were essentially playing for the group’s top spot against Colombia, who had beaten Uruguay 1-0. Just five minutes into the game, Argentina won a penalty after Alexander Viveros touched the ball with his hand trying to stop Palermo. The Argentinian center forward stepped up to take the penalty and hit the crossbar. Five minutes later it was Colombia’s turn to place the ball on the penalty spot with Ivan Cordoba converting it to goal.
Three minutes into the second half, Colombia got another penalty, but German Burgos saved Hamilton Ricard’s shot. In the 76th minute, Viveros handled the ball again, stopping Palermo’s header. Despite missing the previous penalty, Palermo took responsibility again but sent the ball wide. In the 79th minute, Argentina conceded again, with Edwin Congo making it 2-0, and in the 87th minute, Johnnier Montano finished them off with a fantastic long-range shot. A few seconds before the final whistle, Cordoba brought down Palermo in the box, giving him the chance to score a consolation goal, but his third penalty was saved by Colombia’s goalkeeper, Miguel Calero.
Three missed penalties in the same game is such a unique incident that it made it into the Guinness Book. Palermo went down in history as the only player to pull off such a feat, but sadly, it cost him his international career. He scored Argentina’s second goal in the 2-0 win against Uruguay, but the 2-1 defeat to Brazil (the winner of the 1999 Copa America) in the quarterfinals, followed by a 10-year absence from the national team. He finally got called up when Argentina nearly missed out on the 2010 World Cup. Diego Maradona, who was then the head coach of the national team, didn’t hesitate to ask for his help, and Palermo delivered by scoring the winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Peru in injury time during the penultimate match of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
Diegito dubbed it as the miracle of Saint Palermo because, with that win, Argentina stayed one point ahead of Uruguay. By beating Uruguay 1-0 in the final match, they secured the fourth and final spot in the World Cup, avoiding the playoff process. Palermo redeemed himself and earned the right to board the plane to South Africa. There, at 36 years old, in his final appearance with the national team, he became Argentina’s oldest player to score, sealing the deal with a goal in the 2-0 win against Greece.
