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Who is the world's best keeper?
(FIFA.com) Tuesday 6 November 2007
(AFP)
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It's one of football's oldest clichés that you need to be a little mad to be a goalkeeper. In truth, however, the eccentricity that typified some of the position's most illustrious forebears has been replaced by more obvious attributes such as bravery, strength, agility and decision-making in the likes of Petr Cech and Gianluigi Buffon.
As part of an elite group at the peak of their profession, this duo, along with illustrious counterparts such as Iker Casillas and Edwin van der Sar, have given added weight to arguments that the position of goalkeeper is the one on which success in the beautiful game is most dependant.
It has been widely questioned, for example, whether Italy would have won the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ without the Herculean efforts of a man, in Buffon, whose inspirational performances were justly rewarded with the Lev Yashin award. Casillas and Van der Sar were also adjudged to be similarly vital in returning the Spanish and English league titles to the Bernabeu and Old Trafford respectively, while Chelsea fans will insist that their hopes of three-in-a-row all but evaporated when Cech suffered that horrific fractured skull in a match at Reading.
Occasional high-profile errors are inevitable, of course - even from the best - but the worth of a dependable No1 is undeniable, as was underlined by the 40 million euros Juventus paid Parma for Buffon, and more recently by Sunderland's British record £9 million acquisition of Craig Gordon. The young Scotland keeper is undoubtedly an emerging figure in a position dominated by familiar names, but perhaps you, the FIFA.com users, have an alternative candidate for the tag 'best goalkeeper in the world'.
Perhaps you feel that Buffon, Cech and Co don't quite measure up to, for example, less-vaunted candidates such as Osvaldo Sanchez of Mexico or Blackburn Rovers' impressive American keeper Brad Friedel. Rogerio Ceni may even feature. The Sao Paulo No1 is certainly a cult figure in Brazil - indeed, he featured prominently in our recent 'Have Your Say' on the world's best free-kick takers - yet Dunga has made Julio Cesar the Auriverde's automatic first choice. Can either Brazilian - or both - be considered a contender?
The choice, as always, is yours...
(FIFA.com) Tuesday 6 November 2007
(AFP) Photos
It's one of football's oldest clichés that you need to be a little mad to be a goalkeeper. In truth, however, the eccentricity that typified some of the position's most illustrious forebears has been replaced by more obvious attributes such as bravery, strength, agility and decision-making in the likes of Petr Cech and Gianluigi Buffon.
As part of an elite group at the peak of their profession, this duo, along with illustrious counterparts such as Iker Casillas and Edwin van der Sar, have given added weight to arguments that the position of goalkeeper is the one on which success in the beautiful game is most dependant.
It has been widely questioned, for example, whether Italy would have won the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ without the Herculean efforts of a man, in Buffon, whose inspirational performances were justly rewarded with the Lev Yashin award. Casillas and Van der Sar were also adjudged to be similarly vital in returning the Spanish and English league titles to the Bernabeu and Old Trafford respectively, while Chelsea fans will insist that their hopes of three-in-a-row all but evaporated when Cech suffered that horrific fractured skull in a match at Reading.
Occasional high-profile errors are inevitable, of course - even from the best - but the worth of a dependable No1 is undeniable, as was underlined by the 40 million euros Juventus paid Parma for Buffon, and more recently by Sunderland's British record £9 million acquisition of Craig Gordon. The young Scotland keeper is undoubtedly an emerging figure in a position dominated by familiar names, but perhaps you, the FIFA.com users, have an alternative candidate for the tag 'best goalkeeper in the world'.
Perhaps you feel that Buffon, Cech and Co don't quite measure up to, for example, less-vaunted candidates such as Osvaldo Sanchez of Mexico or Blackburn Rovers' impressive American keeper Brad Friedel. Rogerio Ceni may even feature. The Sao Paulo No1 is certainly a cult figure in Brazil - indeed, he featured prominently in our recent 'Have Your Say' on the world's best free-kick takers - yet Dunga has made Julio Cesar the Auriverde's automatic first choice. Can either Brazilian - or both - be considered a contender?
The choice, as always, is yours...
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