It has been nearly two months since Western Sydney Wanderers goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic stumbled into infamy against the Brisbane Roar.
Leading 2-1 away from home in the 95th minute, the ball was rolling past the Wanderers keeper in what appeared to be one of the last kicks of the game.
However, Janjetovic questionably chose to try and control it and inexplicably knocked the ball out for a corner, with the resulting stoppage leading to a last-gasp equaliser from Adam Taggart.
It was a harrowing moment for the experienced glove man, but Markus Babbel did not reach for the hair dryer treatment.
And Janjetovic has bounced back admirably since the incident, shining in the club’s three match unbeaten streak.
“It was a silly thing that happened. I let the team down, I let the coaching staff down – everyone,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“[Babbel] was the first one to come up to me in the change room. He said ‘just keep going on the next one now, stand tall.’ That gave me confidence as well, the way he felt and saw things.
“He knows me better than a lot of the people that have their opinions, because we’re together 24-7, we see each other a lot, we talk.
“I did cop some stick and that’s normal. If you make a mistake like that, it’s bound to come around – people are going to comment and give their thoughts and opinions and what you should have done, what you could have done better, whatever.
“You cop those things on the chin and you move on. If you can’t move on from something like that, if you can’t put it in the bag and forget about it, then I don’t think you’re made to play professional sport.”
Sitting eighth on the ladder, Western Sydney return to Suncorp to face the ninth-placed Roar on Friday night.
And although there’s little but pride to play for for both sides, Janjetovic hopes a clean sheet will go some way toward redemption.
“We’d love to go up there and get a result and to redeem myself from last time,” he said.
“It’s been up and down, the whole season for us. But now we’re getting the results we deserve and the boys are working extremely hard as well. If we just keep doing the right things, we’ll come away with the win.”
