Goalkeeper,
often shortened to keeper or goalie, is one of the major
positions of
association football. It is the oldest, most specialised, and
generally the most important position in the sport. The goalkeeper's
primary role is to prevent the opposing
team from successfully moving the
ball over the defended
goal-line (between the
posts and under the crossbar). This is accomplished by the
goalkeeper moving into the path of the ball and either catching it or
directing it away from the vicinity of the goal line. Within the 18 yard
box goalkeepers are able to use their
hands, making them (outside of
throw-ins) the only players on the field able to handle the ball.
Goalkeepers perform
goal kicks, and also give commands to their defence during
corner kicks,
direct and
indirect free kicks, and
marking. Goalkeepers play an important role in directing on field
strategy as they have an unrestricted view of the entire
pitch giving them a unique perspective on play development.
Goalkeepers are required to remain on the pitch at all times though
that does not mean they have to be between the sticks all the time. For
example goalkeepers may have to take a
penalty kick during a
penalty shoot-out or even go for a corner late in the game though it
is rare, as it leaves the goal unguarded. If a goalkeeper is
hurt or sent off the back-up goalkeeper must take his place,
if not then an outfielder must do so. In the event of a sending off an
outfielder too must leave and the other keeper "replaces" him. If both
keepers are hurt or sent off and there is no third choice keeper
especially at club level, an outfielder (usually a defender) has to take
his place and wear the goalkeeper kit. Because goalkeeper is the most
important job in football as well as being the most difficult position
to master, most teams have the same keeper play in the starting XI every
season. For example
Petr Cech is currently no.1 at
Chelsea F.C. while
Iker Casillas has been
Real Madrid's no.1 for more than 9 years, and the starting
goalkeeper for Spain for over a decade. As a result it could be a long
time before the back-up keeper has a chance to play. This is one of the
main reasons why most goalkeeper on average retire in their
forties. The main
squad number for a goalkeeper is no.1 but today though this is still
common some goalkeepers now wear other squad numbers when in goal. For
example: Despite being no.1 at
Liverpool F.C..
Pepe Reina has worn the no.25 jersey through all his Liverpool
career. No.13, especially in Britain, is the common number for the
second choice keeper, though others like 12, 16 (a number attributed to
hockey), 24, 25, even 30 (a number attributed to
ice
hockey) are also common.
History
Football, like many sports, has experienced many changes in tactics
resulting in the generation and elimination of different positions.
Goalkeeper is the only position that is certain to have existed since
the codification of the sport. Even in the early days of organised
football, when systems were limited or non-existent and the main idea
was for all players to attack and defend, teams had a designated member
to play as the goalkeeper.
The earliest account of football teams with player positions comes
from
Richard Mulcaster in 1581; however, he does not specify goalkeepers.
The earliest specific reference to keeping goal comes from
Cornish Hurling in 1602. According to Carew: "they pitch two bushes
in the ground, some eight or ten foot asunder; and directly against
them, ten or twelve score off, other twayne in like distance, which they
term their Goals. One of these is appointed by lots, to the one side,
and the other to his adverse party. There is assigned for their guard, a
couple of their best stopping Hurlers".[1]
Other references to scoring goals begin in English literature in the
early 16th century; for example, in
John Day's play The Blind Beggar of
Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659): "I'll play
a gole at
camp-ball" (an extremely violent variety of football, popular in
East Anglia). Similarly, in a 1613 poem,
Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, And drive it to
the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe". It seems inevitable that
wherever a game has evolved goals, some form of goalkeeping must also be
developed.
David Wedderburn refers to what has been translated from
Latin as
to "keep goal" in 1633, though this does not necessarily imply a fixed
goalkeeper position.
Initially, goalkeepers typically played between the goalposts and had
limited mobility, except when trying to save opposition shots.
Throughout the years, goalkeeping has evolved, due to the changes in
systems of play, to be a more active role. Goalkeeper is the only
position in which you can use your hands in the game of football(other
than during throw-ins). The original
Laws of the Game permitted goalkeepers to handle the ball anywhere
in their half of the
pitch. This was revised in 1912, restricting use of the hands by the
goalkeeper to the
penalty area.
In 1992, the
International Football Association Board made changes in the laws of
the game that affected goalkeepers – notably the
back-pass rule,[2]
which prohibits goalkeepers from handling the ball when receiving a
deliberate pass from a team-mate that is made with their feet (the pass
can be made with all the others parts of the body except hands). As a
result, all goalkeepers were required to improve controlling the ball
with their feet.
General
play and technique
The goalkeeper position is the most specialised of all positions on
the field. Unlike other players, goalkeepers may touch the ball with any
part of their body while in their own
penalty area. Outside of their penalty area, goalkeepers have the
same restrictions as other field players. They are also "protected" from
active interference by opponents within their own goal area.[citation
needed]
Perhaps the most spectacular move a goalkeeper routinely performs is
the extension dive. To execute this manoeuver properly, they push off
the ground with the foot nearest to the ball, launching themself into a
horizontal position. At this point, the ball may be caught or simply
pushed away. In the latter case, a good goalkeeper will attempt to
ensure that the rebound cannot be taken by a player on the opposite
team, although this is not always possible.
Responsibilities
The tactical responsibilities of goalkeepers include:
- To keep goal by physically blocking attempted shots with
any part of their body. The keeper is permitted to play the
ball anywhere on the field, but he may not handle the ball
using his hands outside the penalty area.
- To take free kicks from deep into their own territory and
goal kicks.
- To organise the team's defenders during defensive set pieces
such as free kicks and corners. In the case of free kicks, this
includes picking the numbers and the organisation of a defensive man
"wall". The wall serves to provide a physical barrier to the
incoming ball, but some goalkeepers position their wall in a certain
position to tempt the kick-taker to a certain type of shot.
Occasionally, goalkeepers may opt to dispense with the wall. Some
goalkeepers are also entrusted with the responsibility of picking
markers while defending at set pieces.
- To pick out crosses and attempted long passes either by
punching them clear or collecting them in flight.
Although goalkeepers have special privileges, including the ability
to handle the ball in the penalty area, they are otherwise subject to
the same rules as any other player. Due to the increasing importance of
crosses and set-pieces that put the ball in the air, the goalkeeper is
often the tallest member of the team, and most stand over 6 ft (180 cm)
tall in professional competition, with many well-known keepers standing
particularly tall at over 6 ft 4 in (193 cm).
Goalkeepers in playmaking and attack
Goalkeepers are not required to stay in the penalty area; they may
get involved in play anywhere on the pitch, and it is common for them to
act as an additional defender during certain passages of the game.
Brazil's
Rogerio Ceni,
Colombia's
René Higuita,
France's
Fabien Barthez,
Germany's
Hans-Jörg Butt,
Hungary's
Gyula Grosics,
Mexico's
Jorge Campos,
Netherlands'
Jan Jongbloed, Paraguay's José Luis Chilavert and
Zimbabwe's
Bruce Grobbelaar were notable for their foot skills and their
regular play outside the penalty area. Goalkeepers with a long throwing
range or accurate long-distance kicks may be able to quickly create
attacking positions for a team and generate goal-scoring chances from
defensive situations, a tactic known as the
long
ball.
Some
goalkeepers have even scored goals. This most commonly occurs where
a goalkeeper has rushed up to the opposite end of the pitch to give his
team a numerical advantage in attack. This rush is risky, as it leaves
the goalkeeper's goal undefended. As such, it is normally only done late
in a game at
set-pieces where the consequences of scoring far outweigh those of
conceding a further goal, such as for a team trailing in a knock-out
tournament. As goalkeepers are usually tall, often taller than all the
outfield players, they can be successful at connecting with headers.
Though this action rarely succeeds, it is regular enough to have
occurred a number of times in professional football: goalscoring
goalkeepers include
Dimitar Ivankov,
Peter Schmeichel,
Mart
Poom,
Steve Ogrizovic,
Marco Amelia,
Andrés Palop,
Jens Lehmann,
Edwin Van Der Sar,
Brad Friedel,
Massimo Taibi,
Jimmy Glass,
Adam Federici,
Paul Robinson,
Michelangelo Rampulla,
Michael Petkovic,
Fabien Barthez,
Federico Vilar,
Daniel Aranzubia,
Tim
Howard,
Chris Weale,
Gavin Ward and
Mark Crossley.
Some goalkeepers, such as
Rogério Ceni and
José Luis Chilavert, may also be expert set-piece takers. These
players may take their team's attacking
free kicks and even
penalties. Ceni,
São Paulo's long-time custodian, has scored 100 goals in his career,
more than many outfield players.
In some even rarer situations, goalkeepers have even scored goals
unintentionally, when a ball kicked downfield has caught the opposing
goalkeeper out of position.
Jung Sung-Ryong,
Paul Robinson,
Danny Cepero,
Jason Matthews,
Jérôme Palatsi,
Andrew Lonergan,
Dragan Pantelić,
Neco Martínez,
Michael Petkovic,
Tim
Howard,
Pat Jennings,
Mohd Syamsuri Mustafa and Ian Deakin are examples of goalkeepers who
have scored under such circumstances. One notable example came in the
final of the
2003 CAF Champions League, in which
Al-Ahly goalkeeper
Essam El-Hadary created a goal by driving an indirect free kick from
near his penalty area into the post of opponent's goal; the ball then
hit the back of the opposing goalkeeper and went into the net.
Equipment and
attire
Goalkeepers must wear
kit that distinguishes them clearly from other players and match
officials, as this is all that the FIFA
Laws of the Game require. Some goalkeepers have received recognition
for their match attire, like
Lev
Yashin of the
Soviet Union, who was nicknamed the "Black Spider" for his
distinctive all-black outfit;
Klaus Lindenberger of
Austria, who designed his own variation of a
clown's
costume; and
Jorge Campos of
Mexico, who was popular for his colourful attire.
Most goalkeepers also wear
gloves to improve their grip on the ball, and to protect themselves
from injury. Some gloves now include rigid plastic spines down each
finger to help prevent injuries such as jammed and
sprained
fingers. Though gloves are not mandatory attire, it is uncommon for
goalkeepers to opt against them due to the advantages they offer. At
UEFA Euro 2004,
Portuguese goalkeeper
Ricardo famously took off his gloves for the quarter-final penalty
shoot-out against
England.
When assigning numbers to players on the team, if a
squad number system is not in use, the number 1 shirt is usually
reserved for the goalkeeper. However, until recently, goalkeepers were
not required to wear the number 1, as is now a regulation for the FIFA
World Cup. For example,
Argentine
Ubaldo Fillol wore the numbers 5 and 7 at the
1978 and
1982 FIFA World Cups, respectively. This often happens when a team
has already assigned the shirt number to a goalkeeper, but brings in a
new player who subsequently becomes the starter. Even in these cases,
the player is usually referred to as the team's "number one". First-team
goalkeepers in
La Liga
are required to take the numbers one, thirteen or twenty-five. Sixteen
is often a popular number for goalkeepers in
France
and its former
African
colonies.[citation
needed]
Czech Republic and
Chelsea goalkeeper
Petr
Čech wears a head guard, after having fractured his skull in a
Premier League match against
Reading, and a few goalkeepers, most notably
Miguel Calero and
Chris Kirkland, wear
baseball caps to shield their eyes from the sun. Calero has also
worn a
bandana while keeping goal for
Pachuca.
Records
Goalkeepers are crucial in penalty shoot-outs. The record for most
penalties saved in a shoot-out is held by
Helmuth Duckadam of
Steaua București. Duckadam defended four consecutive penalties in
the
1986 European Cup Final against
Barcelona.[citation
needed]
Stefano Tacconi is the only goalkeeper to have won all official Club
Competitions.
The quickest goal scored by a goalkeeper is
Nottingham Forest's
Paul Smith after 22 seconds, on 18 September 2007, when
Leicester City agreed to give Forest a free goal in the
Football League Cup second round after the original tie was
abandoned when City's
Clive Clarke collapsed at half-time when Forest were up 1–0. Forest
ended up losing the game 3–2.
A few goalkeepers have become notable at taking set pieces; for
example,
José Luis Chilavert is the only goalkeeper to score a
hat-trick (three goals in a game), doing so through
penalty kicks. He also was a
free kick expert.
Rogério Ceni has scored the highest number of goals for a
goalkeeper, having scored his 100th goal in official games on 27 March
2011. Ceni scored his goals through free kicks and penalty kicks.[3]
At International Level,
Dino
Zoff is the goalkeeper who has remained unbeaten for the longest
period of time,[4]
whilst
Walter Zenga is the goalkeeper who holds the record for the longest
unbeaten run in a
FIFA World Cup tournament.[5]
Gianluigi Buffon,
Fabien Barthez and
Iker Casillas hold the record for least goals conceded by a winning
goalkeeper in a World Cup tournament, only conceding two goals and
leading their team to victory, as they were also awarded the
Yashin Award for best keeper. Gianluigi Buffon is also the only
World Cup winning goalkeeper to not have conceded a goal in open play
throughout the whole tournament (one goal coming from an own goal after
a free-kick, and the second from a penalty).
Fabien Barthez and
Peter Shilton hold the record for most
clean sheets in World Cup matches, with 10 clean sheets each.[6]
Oliver Kahn is the only goalkeeper to have won the
Adidas Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament in a World
Cup, whilst
Lev
Yashin is the only goalkeeper to have won the
Ballon d'Or. Iker Casillas holds both the record for fewest goals
conceded in a European Championship (1) and the record for longest
unbeaten run at a European Championship, beating the previous record
held by Dino Zoff. He also holds the records for most international
clean sheets (74) beating the previous record held by
Edwin Van der Sar (72).
Gianluca Pagliuca of Italy became the first goalkeeper to be sent
off in a World Cup Finals match, dismissed for apparently handling
outside his area against Norway. He also became the first goalkeeper to
save a penalty in a penalty-shootout in a World Cup Final in the same
tournament.
Highest fees
The most expensive goalkeeper of all time is currently
Gianluigi Buffon (following his 2001
€54.29 million
transfer to
Juventus from
Parma).[7]
See also
References