10 Greatest Soccer/Football Goalkeepers of All Time

By: Biplob Kishore Deb

Goalkeeping is such a position which people seldom praise for. However, it is unavoidable to be criticized if anyone makes any mistake in this position. In this point of view, it may seem to be the less important position in football but if you have a little idea about football then you would be able to realize the significance and the responsibility of this position. You can compare a goalkeeper with the minister on the chess board who initially stands beside the king symbolizing the principle protector of the King in the battle field. In the same way a goalkeeper is also the principle saver of the goal. I found some of the great parsons who seem to be a wall under the goal bar.

If any of you think something to let me now then please feel free to use the comment section.

Lev Yashin

Lev Ivanovich Yashin is thought to be the greatest goalkeeper ever seen in the long history of football. Black Spider nicknamed this Russian goalkeeper has set some unique moments in his career saving some unimaginable goals both for his country and his clubs. He played in three world cups for his country and he could finish 4 out of his 13 world cup matches with clean sheet meaning without conceding any goal. He also helped his national team to won the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Gold Medal. In his entire career he just played in one club Dynamo Moscow and he appeared in 326 club matches in his career. He is the only goalkeeper ever to win European Football of the Year. He had a great skill to save penalty kicks and n his career he did this toughest job for 150 times. Some of his quotes are still famous in the football world. I am quoting some of his quotes from a website:

"What kind of a goalkeeper is the one who is not tormented by the goal he has allowed? He must be tormented! And if he is calm, that means the end. No matter what he had in the past, he has no future."

"The joy of seeing Yuri Gagarin flying in space is only superseded by the joy of a good penalty save."

"There have only been two world-class goalkeepers. One was Lev Yashin, the other was the German boy who played in Manchester — Trautmann."

This greatest performer of world football was awarded the ‘Order of Lenin’ in 1967 and most probably the significant prize to have been given to this excellent warrior under the bar came in 1994 when Fifa introduced Lev Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper of each world cup tournaments.

Image Link: Wikipedia

Gordon Banks

This English goalkeeper is one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He was the member of the 1966 English World Cup squad and he just conceded two goals in the tournament and became one of the members of English’s first and till last world cup winning team. This magnificent goalkeeper had a clear sense in positioning and he saved some reflex shots which are known to be very hard for a goalkeeper. Most of his club career he spent Leicester City with his 293 appearance for the club. Regarding his one of the best saves deemed to be “The Save of the Century”, I am quoting from a website:

“England played Brazil in the first round and a Jairzinho cross from the right was met perfectly by Pelé who headed it down towards Gordon’s bottom right corner. As the ball hit the ground in front of the goalline, he managed to flick it with his outstreched right hand as it came up. The ball rose over the bar for a corner.”

Image Link: planetworldcup

Dino Zoff

Dino Zoff is one of those goalkeepers who could hold an impact on the team. This greatest Italian goalkeeper is the oldest world cup winner while he captained Italy to win the world cup in 1982 when he was 40. He is the only second ever goalkeeper come captain to win the world cup. Zoff could set up some examples of some outstanding saves in both for his club and country. He could easily read out the game and took his better position which made him a dominant figure over the strikers and wingers of his time. In his club career he played for several clubs but he is much famous for his golden days with Juventus FC where he won six Serie A league titles and one UEFA championship. He plaed 112 matches for Italy i9nclfuding two world cups. He was named as the ‘Italy’s Golden Player’ by the Italian Football Federation. After his retirement from football he became successful in coaching.

Image Link: planetworldcup

Sepp Maier

Maier is another rare fighter under the goal bar. This great player of Grmandy (then West Germany) was very active in the field and his flexible movement made him an instant titan for the opposition strikers and wingers. In 1974 he helped Germany to win the world cup in their soil. In the tournament he could finish four matches with clean sheet out of seven matches. He played for Bayern Munich for his entire career where he played consecutive 422 matches which is still a record for German football league. He won four West German leagues and three UEFA champions leagues with Bayern Munich. Later after his retirement form football he has been a goalkeeping coach for Germany national team.

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Jan Tomaszewski

This famous Polish goalkeeper is considered one of the influential goalkeepers of all time. He is famous for his performance in the 1974 world cup where Poland got their ever best performance in the world cup history being the bronze medalist. In that world cup Poland came in to the focus as a giant killer making out some leading countries like Argentina, Italy and Brazil to make their way to the semi-final. Jan had an inevitable contribution to such a success of his country. He played two world cups and he could manage to finish 5 out of his 11 world cup matches with clean sheet. He helped his country to win the silver medal in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He is the most capped goalkeeper for his country with his 59 appearances for Poland.

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Andoni Zubizarreta

This former Spanish and Barcelona goalkeeper could make a feat in his time as a dominant goalkeeper. He had a tremendous power of reading the game so that he could take his flexible position in any attempt. The most important thing regarding this goalkeeper is that he played four consecutive world cups for his country. His club career was also as eventful as his international career. He played for some of the leading clubs of Spanish La Liga including Athletic Bilbao, Valencia CF, FC Barcelona etc. He won six Spanish league titles and one UEFA champion’s league.

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Oliver Kahn

Kahn is one of the current goalkeepers to be considered as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is the former captain of Germany. He is one of the popular faces of German Bundesliga. He is currently at the tenth position among the players of Bundesliga with most appearances. He has already played 502 matches in the German league. He was selected in the 1994 world cup squad as a reserve goalkeeper and could not get chance to play any match. He played his debut match against Switzerland in 1995. He started his club career in 1987 with Karlsruher SC where he played some seasons showing his talent and skill. He joined in Bayern Mucnich in 1994 where he is still playing. He got the capt6aincy of Bayern Munich in 1999 and led the club to win the UEFA Champion’s league in 2001. He had to wait for the number one jersey till the end of the 1998 world cup as the then regular goalkeeper Andreas Kopke announced his retirement. In the next world cup in 2002 he was the captain of the German team and Germany own the runner-up trophy. He won the Addidas golden ball as the best player and was named for the Yashin award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament. He has taken his retirement from the international tournament after playing the only match against Portugal.

Image Link: Wikipedia

Gianluigi Buffon

Buffon is though to be in the way of being one of the greatest of all time. This Italian goalkeeper ahs recently won his first World Cup with his country Italy and named for the Lev Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper in the tournaments. He is current playing for famous Italian Club Juventus F.C. He made the record transfer fee for a goalkeeper while joining to Juventus F.C. from Parma F.C. He became the ‘Best Goalkeeper’ award at the UEFA Champion’s League in 2003. He has been included in the list of top 125 living greatest footballers made by Pele. He own two Serie A cups in his club career.

Image Link: http://www.sigloxxi.com/index.php?link=noticias&noticiaid=2814

José Luis Félix Chilavert

Chilavert was a very popular goalkeeper in his time. He was used to making some funny things for which he was often seen to be the headline of newspaper. You will be amazed

to know that he scored 8 international goals in his career. Moreover, he became a part of the history after making a hat-trick in his club career which is the first time for a goalkeeper to touch such an amazing record. This Paraguayan goalkeeper frequently goes up to the opposition area seeking for goal and he was often seen to take free kicks and penalty shot for his teams. He also became the first goalkeeper to take a direct free kick in the world cup. He played two world cups in his career. He played 74 matches for Paraguay. He became the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper of the Year for three times and South American Footballer of the Year in 1996. He played for several clubs in his career including Real Zaragoza, San Lorenzo, Racing Strasbourg etc.

Image Link: http://www.laureateci.it/chilavert/chilavert.asp

Peter Schmeichel

This Danish great goalkeeper was very famous for his acrobatic movement in the field. He is the most capped player for Denmark with his 129 internatinal matches. He spent his golden time of his club career with famous English premier League club Manchester United where he played 292 matches. He won the 1992 European Championship with his country Denmark. He became the ‘World’s Best Goalkeeper’ for two times. He also led his country for 30 matches as captain. He won the UEFA Champion’s League with ManU. He is a member of the English Football Hall of Fame.

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