5 of the Best: Goalkeepers



Schmeichel in Full Flight



1.       Peter Schmeichel

What else can be said about the great Dane, guardian of the infrequently bulged net at Old Trafford for most of the nineties, possessor of the quarter-back throw, red-nosed star0jumpoing maniac that he was. Behind the decidedly immobile Bruce and Pallister, Schmeichel added a stability Les Sealy and Jim Leighton had been unable to provide for United as they went on to win the very first Premier League title in 1993. He, single handedly at times, dragged them through a huge amount of tricky fixtures, most notably away to table-toppers Newcastle in the 96-97 season and in the San Siro against Inter Milan in the treble winning season of 98-99. Simply a legend.

2.       Iker Casillas

The cult of Casillas is well documented but I think the reverence he is shown in Europe should not detract from the fact that he is a dam fine keeper. Having made his debut at age just 17 he went on to oust Bodo Illgner from between the sticks and make the position emphatically his own, playing in, and winning, a Champions League Final two years later and going on to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or twice. League titles, Galacticos, European Championships and a World Cup triumph later, Casillas is still only 30, an age when many goalkeepers begin to find their form. A phenomenon in the modern game, the fact that he consistently keeps Valdez and Reina out of the Spanish team is all the evidence needed.

3.       Neville Southall

Not an obvious choice for many, but to someone who only really saw him play consistently in the twilight years of his career, he was a triumph of physics. A big man, not exactly blessed with a sportsman’s physique, Southhall had incredible agility, an instinctive knack for being in the right place at the right time and the ability to frighten the life out of opposing forwards. He spent most of his career at Everton, keeping goal during one of the most successful periods in the Toffees history, as well as playing internationally for Wales. My lasting memory of Southall is his man of the match display for Everton against Manchester United in the FA Cup Final at Wembley in 1995 as he collected the last winners’ medal of his professional career.

4.       Gianluigi Buffon

Another, like Casillas, to have been a teen prodigy at his club, albeit it at a lesser team, Parma, Buffon would also go on to captain his country to World Cup victory and develop his very own cult of invincibility. Still the most expensive goalkeeper in the world following his transfer to Juventus in 2001, Buffon is so highly regarded not only for the obvious fact that he is an incredibly dominant goalkeeper, especially with regards to his aerial ability and his success rate in one on one situations, but also because he has come to prominence at the end of Italy’s age of superstars. In the mid-90’s the Italian league was the place to be and at any one time Italy could call upon the likes of Vieri, Baggio, Maldini, Baresi, Signori, Vialli, Del Piero, Zenga, Peruzzi and Pagliuca, however by the time Italy arrived at the World Cup in Germany in 2006 their superstars were either retired or old. The fact that a solid defence, built on Cannavaro and Buffon, dragged an incredibly average Azzurri to success. Buffon will go down, with Dino Zoff, as Italy’s greatest goalkeeper.

5.       Packie Bonner

There is literally a dozen other goalkeepers I could have chosen to make up the fifth, but I plucked the big Donegal man from obscurity to stand tall amongst his peers. He spent his whole career at Celtic, in a period of mixed success for the Hoops, but it is his international form for which he is remembered. His height and physical strength meant that he commanded his box well, and the style of play Ireland played under Jack Charlton meant his kicking and distribution from hand were vitally important. During the 19988 European Championship and the 1990 World Cup, with Ireland somewhat of a wildcard, it is not an exaggeration to say that he was among the best goalkeepers at both tournaments. Not bad at saving penalty’s either.