VIDEO: Swedish women's league early-season candidate for own goal of the year

Football is an unforgiving sport.

The most embarrassing moments of futility are in plain view for supporters to see, as the pitch offers nowhere to hide and teammates are more willing to implicate fault than empathize with a colleague's unease.

Just ask Hammarby defender Helen Eke, who turned a seemingly banal moment into one of sheer disaster, scoring an own goal that she won't be quick to forget.

Minutes into a recent Damallsvenskan (Sweden's top flight) fixture between Orebro and Hammarby, a seemingly innocuous back-pass to the 'keeper was met with a deflected clearance, falling into the path of Eke.

With little more to do but clear the ball, Eke instead booted it into her own net, gifting Orebro an early 1-0 advantage.

Adding insult to injury, Eke was subbed off after only a half-hour, as Hammarby went on to lose 3-1.