Ivanovic, Eboue, Taibi and six of the worst football nightmares

Branislav Ivanovic's horrendous blunders against Swansea in their Capital One Cup semi first leg capped off a performance the Serbian defender will want to forget. The usually reliable defender gifted Swansea both goals, but where does Ivanovic's 'Weston' rank alongside some of these horror shows?

Jonathan Woodgate's disastrous debut
A year after his £13.4m switch from Newcastle United, injury plagued Jonathan Woodgate's long-awaited debut for Real Madrid will be remembered as one of the most eventful bows in football history, to put it kindly. After spending 13 months on the sidelines, Woodgate endured 65 minutes of misery as he put through his own goal, before being sent off for a second bookable offence. Despite his disastrous start, he became something of a cult hero at the Bernabeu, however, persistent injuries hindered his time in Spain.

Woodgate gets sent off

Inept Emmanuel Eboue
The holy grail of mediocrity, no footballer wants to be handed the soul-destroying moniker of 'sub for a sub', but that is exactly what happened to Emmanuel Eboue at Arsenal in December 2008. After being brought on as a first-half replacement for Samir Nasri in a match against Wigan, Eboue went on to give one of the most inept performances ever seen in an Arsenal shirt. The Ivorian repeatedly gave away passes, mis-controlled the ball and capped it off by tackling team mate Kolo Toure. With the crowd on his back, Arsene Wenger subbed Eboue in injury time to a chorus of boos.

Frank de Boer's frightful misses
As any England fan will tell you, penalties can be a harsh mistress and Dutch hero Frank de Boer was to find this out the hard way during the Euro 2000 semi-finals. With a tournament on home soil and a nation behind them, the Netherlands faced Italy and looked like taking a step towards the final when Alessandro Nesta conceded a penalty during the first-half. Unfortunately for the Dutch, De Boer's effort from 12 yards was saved by Francesco Toldo to kick-start an evening of misery for the Dutch. Patrick Kluivert missed a second penalty as the game went into extra-time and then reached penalties. Up stepped De Boer again, this time to miss Holland's opening shoot-out penalty, as the Oranje crashed to defeat. And you thought England were bad from the spot.

De Boer's desperate shoot-out miss

Massimo Taibi's memorable blunder
Massimo Taibi's short spell at Manchester United will always be remembered for one particular moment. Following two man of the match performances against Liverpool and Wimbledon, his good work was instantly undone when a tame Matt Le Tissier strike crawled through the Italian's legs and across the line to gift Southampton a 3-3 draw. A 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea a week later sealed his fate and Taibi was sold to Italian side Reggina after just six months at Old Trafford.

Martin Palermo's penalty calamities
Missing a penalty, while soul-destroying, is a forgivable act, missing two is embarrassing (yes, Frank De Boer), but missing three in one match is bottom drawer (we've just invented that phrase). That is exactly what former Boca Juniors hero Martin Palermo did while on international duty with Argentina during the 1999 Copa America. After being awarded three penalties against Colombia, Palermo conspired to miss every single one. Suffice to say, his international career was all but over following that horror show, until his number one fan Diego Maradona ended his 10 year international exile by recalling the striker.

Palermo misses a hat-trick of penalties

Bonus
Footballing nightmares aren't limited to professional players as Snoop Lion (formerly Dogg) proved in the summer of 2012. Topping Diana Ross' wayward shooting at the 1994 World Cup opening ceremony, Snoop managed to miss not one, but two penalties against an open goal.

What's the worst performance you've ever seen from a footballer? Let us know by commenting below...