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From hero to zero — the life of a goalkeeper

By on April 20, 2015

‘Who would be a goalkeeper?’ It’s no surprise most school kids would rather be picked last than be picked to play in goal. Next to the question of ‘who would be a referee?’ this question dominates in football discussions across the globe. Goalkeepers rarely get the credit they deserve; they may play well for eighty-nine minutes but then become victimized after a mistake in the ninetieth, with that one howler haunting them for the rest of their life.

The clangers (and I am not talking about pink mouse-like creatures on the moon) returned in the semi-finals of this season’s FA Cup at Wembley as Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez embarrassed Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici. Worse, it was a late winning goal. Arsenal were hardly at their best and Reading posed a serious challenge, so Federici will take sole blame for the loss.

However, Federici is not the first and most certainty won’t be the last professional goalkeeper to make a high profile mistake on the biggest stage. Federici only joins a long list of great ‘keepers who have let the ball slip through their fingers (although this time the culprit was not English!). Reading’s Australian shot-stopper follows in the footsteps of former England goalkeeper Scott Carson, who also dropped a gaffe at Wembley Stadium. The current Wigan shot-stopper let a speculative, thirty-yard effort slip through his grasp a Euro Qualification loss against Croatia in 2007, leading to the failure of England’s qualification for Euro 2008 and the sacking of Steve McClaren.

Federici’s blunder also reminds Robert Green’s spill in goal for England at 2010 World Cup, letting Clint Dempsey’s low, tame shot through his legs against the USA; and while Green made a world-class save in the second half to save a point for England, all people remember were his butter-fingers in the first half. The same is bound to prove true with Federici: he made a decent save to prevent Arsenal defender Gabriel from scoring with a header before his error. Reading manager Steve Clarke tried to comfort the distraught Aussie and has also since come out backing his keeper, but that will be little comfort from the damnation of such a high-profile err.

Fabio Capello didn’t show the same sympathy for Green at the World Cup in South Africa, and dropped him for the rest of the tournament. Ironically, his replacement David James did not fair much better. James also made a calamitous mistake in the 1996 FA Cup Final for Liverpool against Manchester United, and was caught out in no man’s land after failing to collect a corner, leading to the only goal of the game (still not as embarrassing as those white suits the Liverpool squad turned up in!). He repeated the trick in the 2000 FA Cup Final, this time in an Aston Villa shirt, as he let Chelsea beat his Villa side by fumbling the ball straight to Roberto Di Matteo. Maybe Federici can count himself lucky his name is not David James, given the English goalkeeper has also been divorced and has since declared bankruptcy as well.

Finally, while goalkeepers rarely get the opportunity to humiliate a striker, forwards get several opportunities every match to make the number one feel much less than that. This was the case recently in the English Premier League when Stoke City midfielder Charlie Adam scored on PFA Young Player of the Season nominee Thibaut Courtois from sixty-five yards out at Stamford Bridge. Luckily for the big Belgian, Loic Remy scored the winning goal for Chelsea in the 2-1 home victory over the Potters and the Blues look set to win the league title this season. You have to hand it to them, the two goalkeepers guarding the net are the bravest of the twenty-two players to grace the green grass.

Homepage photo credit: football.ua

About Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis can relate almost anything to football and quite often does! You may have seen Richard's previous ideas and work in the BBC Match of the Day Magazine, from 2011 to present. He is a Manchester United and England fan, but has gone to see Leyton Orient play with his O's season ticket in the 2013/14 campaign. Aside from football, Richard has written articles on Doctor Who and studies English Language and Linguistics at the University of Westminster. Aspiring sports journalist.