Whatever the German for “it bobbled” is, it’s a safe bet Kaiserslautern’s Philipp Hofmann could be heard endlessly repeating the mantra following his glorious miss against Union Berlin in Bundesliga 2 on Wednesday.

Hofmann contrived to shank the ball over the bar less than two metres from the goalline, with Union Berlin’s goalkeeper stricken and an empty net beckoning.

Hofmann could at least console himself with the fact Kaiserslautern went on to win – Alexander Ring, who provided the cross for the miss, scoring the winner – but that will not stop the 21-year-old forward joining a roll call that already includes Jon Dahl Tomasson, Kanu, Ronny Rosenthal et al.