Jean-Claude Darcheville admits his missed sitter against Lyon cost Rangers a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night.And the French striker, 32, insists crashing out of the tournament in the final group game is the lowest point of his career.
Darcheville - rated extremely doubtful with a hamstring strain ahead of the match - came off the bench with 20 minutes remaining and was presented with the chance of the night to restore parity after Sidney Govou had claimed an early opener for Lyon.
A draw would have been enough to take Rangers through to the knockout stages but any hope of a precious point disappeared when Darcheville somehow managed to blast over the crossbar from three yards with just 11 minutes to go when it looked so much easier to score.
It was a squandered opportunity which will no doubt draw comparisons with Peter van Vossen's legendary sitter and Darcheville confessed he had no excuse for the miss.
"I knew the importance of the game, I am a very experienced striker and I knew that was an important moment in the game," he said.
"I was sure I was going to score and it would have given us a great chance to qualify.
"I don't want to make excuses but the ball gave a little bobble. But I should have scored.
"You don't get five or six chances at this level in the Champions League - if you get one, you have to take it."
Asked whether the defeat to Lyon was the biggest disappointment of his career, he responded simply: "Yes."
There was worse to come for both Rangers and Darcheville, as Karim Benzema then helped himself to two goals to inflict a 3-0 scoreline and Darcheville earned a straight red for stomping on Kim Kallstrom just before the final whistle.
However, the Ibrox man was keen to protest his innocence afterwards, insisting: "I always take responsibility for myself but the referee got it wrong. Maybe it was a yellow card. I was very surprised when I saw the red card."
Rangers at least have the consolation of parachuting into the UEFA Cup after securing a third place finish in Group E behind Barcelona and Lyon and Darcheville sees no reason why Walter Smith's men cannot enjoy a lengthy run in the competition.
"I'm not happy because it was a chance to go into the last 16 of the Champions League," he said.
"But now it is finished and we have the UEFA Cup. I think we have a good chance. It's possible to go far because we played well against teams like Lyon and Barcelona in the Champions League and still had a chance to go through going into the last game so Rangers can do well in the UEFA Cup."
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