If there's one rule everybody can understand about football, it's that you need to put the ball in the goal to score.Below the crossbar, between the posts, all the ball over the line and more often than not, in the net.If you're wondering why we're stating the obvious, stick with us because there's plenty of players in Croatia who would argue that it certainly isn't that simple.There are a handful of instances in football where there has been some sort of visual illusion with a goal. These are often registered in the history books as 'ghost goals.'Stefan Kiessling produced one of the famous examples in 2013, 'scoring' against Hoffenheim despite actually heading wide and profiting from a hole in the side-netting.

'Ghost goal' in Croatia

There was also a chaotic instance over 10 years ago during a Watford vs Reading clash, where the former were inexplicably awarded a goal for nothing from than a corner clash.

However, forget the above, there was a whole new take on the phenomenon when Slaven Belupo thought they had scored, but had actually hit the post.

It seems an impossible mistake to make and while we're not justifying their collective brainlessness, you'll understand the error a lot more when you see the footage.

But it actually hit the post...

Nevertheless, if you slow down the video, it's clear that the ball didn't enter the goal and while some of the Slaven players realised this, the majority of them proceeded to celebrate.

And Hajduk Split saw the opportunity to pounce, quickly staging a counterattack as a collection of Slaven players came together in a huddle and their goalkeeper wandered to the halfway line.

And despite the eventual realisation of the Slaven team, Split were able to cover the length of the pitch and score into a undefended goal. They confirmed a 2-0 victory, as a result.

But don't take our word for it, the incident needs to be seen to be believed and the full footage can be seen down below (skip to 0:15):

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

The thing is, some of those players will have been convinced that the referee had somehow missed them score. It's a pretty justified protestation, if they hadn't actually hit the post.

And it makes the visual trickery of the 'goal' all the more interesting. It seems understandable that it could deceive on a television camera, but down at pitch-level, really?

Anyhow, fair play to the Split players for making the most of the mistake and executing one of the easiest goals they'll score all season. 

But if nothing else, there will always be a reserved place for this disaster-class in the amusing annuls of bizarre footballing strikes.