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It's been 36 years since Peru last qualified for a World Cup, and on Saturday their 2018 World Cup run began with a date with Denmark. In a back-and-forth scoreless first half that saw both sides create chances in and around the box, Peru held their own against Denmark and finally, just before halftime, their moment arrived. After VAR granted Peru a penalty kick, Christian Cueva stepped up to the spot to deliver a goal that his country has been waiting for since 1982.

He skied it instead. And it wasn't particularly close.

The reaction from his manager, Ricardo Gareca ...

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Twitter: Fox Soccer

and from Twitter ... 

... was brutal. 

But Cueva's teammates and fans rallied behind him.

Cueva wasn't the only one to falter from the spot. Earlier on Saturday, Argentina star Lionel Messi saw his penalty kick in a tie game against Iceland get parried away, which means that there have already more missed penalty kicks in the 2018 World Cup than there were back in 2014, according to Gracenote.

The two teams entered halftime with the score knotted at 0-0. Denmark would later take a 1-0 lead on the other side of the break. Peru has responded by nearly scoring on multiple occasions. 

You can follow along with our live blog here as Peru tries to get back into the match after a devastating few minutes. They're out-playing Denmark, but the results just haven't been there quite yet, providing yet another reminder that soccer is the cruelest of sports.