Why do I need to know das Eigentor?
Das Eigentor means an own goal.
In football, it refers to a player accidentally scoring in their own team’s net. During a tournament, you might see it in live blogs, match reports or TV commentary when a mistake changes the direction of a game.
But das Eigentor is also often used figuratively. If a politician, company, institution or public figure does something that damages their own case, German-language media may call it ein Eigentor.
That makes it a useful word even for people who don’t care much about football. It appears in headlines about politics, business, bureaucracy and public relations, usually when someone’s own action has backfired.
For example, a badly handled announcement, an awkward interview or a policy that creates new problems could be described as ein Eigentor.
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What does it mean?
Das Eigentor is made up of eigen, meaning own, and das Tor, meaning goal.
The word is neuter: das Eigentor. The plural is die Eigentore.
In a football context, ein Eigentor schießen means to score an own goal.
In a figurative context, the same phrase can mean to make a self-inflicted mistake. If someone says Damit hat er ein Eigentor geschossen, they mean “With that, he scored an own goal”, or more naturally, “That backfired on him”.
The word das Tor itself can mean goal in football, but also gate or large door in other contexts.
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Use it like this:
In der zweiten Halbzeit fiel ein Eigentor.
There was an own goal in the second half.
Mit dieser Aussage hat die Partei ein Eigentor geschossen.
With that statement, the party scored an own goal.
Das war kein kluger Schritt, sondern ein klassisches Eigentor.
That wasn’t a clever move, but a classic own goal.
Whether you’re watching football or reading Austrian political coverage, das Eigentor is a great way to describe a mistake that hurts the person who made it.
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