The Goal of ‘Keeper Quite Simple: Don’t Give Up Any Goals
The thing to know about goalkeepers is to expect the unexpected.
Perhaps that’s because their job requires them to view the world in the same way: To watch out for the unpredictable move, the impossible shot, the unforeseen defensive error.
Theirs is a position where long periods of inactivity are broken by moments of near panic. Danger lurks in every cross that floats in from the wings, in every free kick from the edge of the penalty area and in every careless clearance.
Even their own defenders cannot be entirely relied upon. That’s why soccer has what is called the “own goal,” one scored against one’s own team.
So far, this World Cup has been spared an own goal, but the goalkeepers have earned their share of headlines all the same.
Take Nery Pumpido, for example. The Argentine keeper’s tournament began on a sour note when he fumbled Omam Biyick’s shot into the net in the opening match, and Cameroon went on to score its 1-0 upset of the defending world champions in Milan.
Pumpido’s World Cup did not improve. In Argentina’s next game, against the Soviet Union, he broke his leg in a collision with a teammate and was hospitalized and later flown home.
Patrick Bonner’s penalty save Monday night in Genoa earned him headlines across Europe today as Ireland beat Romania to remain unbeaten and advance to the quarterfinals.
Then there is Colombia’s Rene Higuita. Known as El Loco by his fans before the tournament began, he might now be known as something even less complimentary.
Higuita saw himself as introducing a new position to the world--that of sweeper/goalkeeper. His upfield forays became his trademark, and Italy’s sports Daily, La Gazzetta dello Sport, published a cartoon captioned “Higuita,” showing nothing but an empty net.
But El Loco’s luck ran out against Cameroon in Naples last Saturday. With Colombia trailing, 1-0, in the second overtime, he ran upfield to play defender, had the ball stolen from him by Roger Milla and was helpless as Milla side-footed it into the unguarded net for Cameroon’s decisive goal in a 2-1 victory.
The next day La Gazzetta dello Sport featured another cartoon, this one showing Higuita tied by a length of rope to one of the goalposts.
No such fun is likely to be poked at English goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who today will be safeguarding his country’s fortunes for a world-record 121st time when England plays Belgium in Bologna.
Shilton is the grand old man of soccer. He turned 40 last Sept. 18 and is playing in his third World Cup.
He has been England’s No. 1 choice as goalkeeper since Bobby Robson became coach eight years ago. Before that, he split time with Ray Clemence. Before them, England’s goalkeeper was the legendary Gordon Banks, a fixture on the 1966 World Cup-winning team and the man credited by Pele with making the finest save he has ever seen. Of course, it was off an attempt by Pele, during the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
Shilton was the understudy to Banks when both played for Leicester City in the English League, learning the art from the world’s best.
Dozens of young goalkeepers have tried to dislodge Shilton from his position between the posts, but none has succeeded. Nor does Shilton show any sign of retiring.
“Getting older inevitably means losing a yard of pace on the younger players,” he told FIFA magazine last year, “but for a goalkeeper, that’s something you can live with.
“We need a different kind of speed, and speed of reflex also comes with experience. You don’t always need to be fitter than your opponent, strictly speaking, to be better.”
Despite his almost quarter-century as a professional goalkeeper, Shilton’s interests extend beyond the game. He is a competent golfer and an avid horse racing fan. But soccer has been his first love since childhood and, with the exception of a brief period in school, he has always been a goalkeeper.
So dedicated was he to reaching the top of his profession that, according to one story, he used to hang by his arms from the stair railings in his family home while his mother put her full weight on his feet.
The idea was to stretch his arms, giving him a greater reach. This might seem absurd, but then goalkeepers always have been a little different from the rest.
“To be a top ‘keeper, I think you have to have a certain personality,” Shilton said in an interview with Britain’s Radio Times earlier this month. “That’s what’s really important.
“You have to be very strong-willed and very thick-skinned. The majority of people don’t understand the first thing about goalkeeping. They don’t see what you do, just what you don’t do.
“Even some television commentators are clueless about goalkeeping, but they do know when you’ve made a mistake, because it’s there, it’s a goal. Everybody can see your mistakes and they can criticize you for them. And they do.”
No one criticized Shilton during England’s qualifying campaign, when it didn’t give up a goal, and he has done well in Italy, too. England has shut out Holland and Egypt and yielded only one goal to Ireland on a defensive miscue.
Tonight, Shilton will face a tougher test, however. Teams gear up a little more for the knockout stage, and Belgium has a strong, offense-minded team. Players such as midfielder Vincenzo Scifo and Jan Ceulemans could make it a long night for Shilton.
He remains confident, however.
“The good news,” he said before the tournament began, “is that the press is writing us off. They were full of praise and hopes before the (1988) European Championships, and look what happened. (England was eliminated in the first round.)
“So maybe this time it’ll be the other way ‘round.”
