Goalkeeper (football)

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A goalkeeper.

In football (soccer), the goalkeeper is a playing position that represents the last line between the opponent's attack and his own team's goal. The primary role of the player at this position is to directly defend his team's goal and keep the opposition side from scoring a goal. The goalkeeper is the only player on a team, permitted to touch the ball with his hands or arms in open play. Each team is required to have a goalkeeper on the field at all times during play – if a goalkeeper is forced to leave the field of play due to either injury or being sent off, another player must assume their role, even if there is no substitute goalkeeper available and/or the team has used up its allotted substitutions.

Goalkeeper is often abbreviated GK in lineup cards, match reports, and TV captions. The terms keeper, and goalie (U.S.) are also commonly used.

When assigning numbers to the players on the team, if a squad number system is not in use, the number 1 shirt is usually reserved for the goalkeeper. Notable exceptions include Ubaldo Fillol, who wore the numbers 5 and 7 at the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups.

1 History
2 General play and technique
3 Equipment and attire
4 Notable goalkeepers
- 4.1 IFFHS' Century elections
- 4.2 IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Football, like many sports, has experienced many changes in tactics that have generated positions, as well as made positions disappear. Goalkeeper is the only position which is certain to have existed since the creation of the rules of the sport.^{[citation needed]} Even in the early days of organized football, when systems were limited or non-existent and the main idea was for all field players to attack and defend, teams had a designated member to play as the goalkeeper.^{[citation needed]}

Initially, goalkeepers would typically play between the goalposts and had limited mobility, except when trying to save opposition shots. Throughout the years, goalkeeping has evolved, due to the changes on systems of play, to be a more active role. The original Laws of the Game permitted goalkeepers to handle the ball anywhere in their half of the pitch. This was revised in 1912, restricting use of the hands by the goalkeeper to the penalty area.

In the mid twentieth century, goalkeepers like Amadeo Carrizo pioneered a playing style that involved more mobility. He also helped introduce new techniques and strategies that would become a standard for the position. Carrizo was the first goalkeeper to wear gloves, the first one to leave the penalty area to defend his goal and the first one to use goal kicks as a strategy to start counter attack plays.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1990s, the International Board made changes in the laws of the game that affected goalkeepers. Notably the back-pass rule, that prohibits goalkeepers from handling the ball with their hands when receiving a deliberate pass fom a teammate, that is not made with their head, shoulder, or chest. As a result, all goalkeepers were required to improve handling the ball with their feet.

[edit] General play and technique

The goalkeeper position is the most specialized of all positions on the field. Unlike other players, goalkeepers may touch the ball with any part of their body, subject to the following restrictions:

They may use their hands and arms only within their own penalty area.
They may not handle the ball if it has been received directly from a throw-in or a deliberate kick from a team-mate (the back-pass rule).
They may handle the ball for at most six seconds at a time.
Once they have released the ball, they may not handle it again until it has been touched by another player.

Although goalkeepers have special privileges under the laws of the game, they are otherwise subject to the same rules as any other player.

Goalkeepers are not required to stay in the penalty area. They may get involved in play anywhere on the pitch, and some goalkeepers have even scored goals. A number of goalkeepers have scored by rushing up to the opposite end of the pitch in order to create an advantage in numbers. The rush is risky, and is normally only done late in the game, in order to score a last-minute goal if the goalkeeper's team is loosing. Other goalkeepers have scored goals as a set piece taker, for example José Luis Chilavert is the only goalkeeper to score a hat-trick (3 goals in a game), doing so through free kicks, and Rogério Ceni is the world's goalkeeper with the most goals scored, having scored 66 times (as of October 23, 2006) through free kicks and penalty kicks.^[1]

[edit] Equipment and attire

Goalkeepers must wear clothing that distinguishes them clearly from other players and match officials, as this is all that the FIFA Laws of the Game require. Some goalkeepers have received recognition for their match attire, like Lev Yashin who was nicknamed the "Black Spider" for his distinctive all-black outfit, or Jorge Campos, who was popular for his colorful attire.

Most goalkeepers also wear gloves to protect themselves from injury. Many believe that a goalkeeper wears gloves to provide better handling of the ball or better grip. This is not true. While the grips of a pair of gloves can increase handling ability, a goalkeeper should not rely on gloves to make a catch. This is something that proper technique will do with or without gloves.^{[citation needed]}