Watch: Inconsolable young goalie collapses in tears after getting sent off midway through penalty shootout

May 16, 2018

A young goalkeeper was visibly heartbroken after he was sent off by the referee midway through a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals of the U17 European Championship.

After a 1-1 draw between Ireland and the Netherlands couldn't be broken up in extra time yesterday, James Corcoran looked to give the Irish the upper hand when he saved the Dutch side's fifth spot-kick.

But the fairytale story quickly became a nightmare referee Zbynek Proske ruled the save invalid and issued Corcoran a yellow card for coming off his line to illegally block the shot.

With the yellow being Corcoran's second in the match, he was also sent off as a result.

The young keeper collapsed in tears at the sight of red and had to be comforted by his teammates before finally handing over his gloves and goalkeeper shirt to defender Oisin McEntee.

The Dutch didn't falter in their second attempt, slotting home the goal and advancing to the semi-finals as a result.

Irish officials immediately took to the pitch after the winning goal to argue with the ref - even the senior team manager Martin O'Neill took expressed his disagreement with the decision.

The Netherlands now play England in the semi-finals while Italy and Belgium face off on the other side of the bracket.

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