Soccer Geek

Hi everyone,

So today I have a very simple question for you: are these the best soccer goalie saves ever? I certainly think so, but of course you don’t have to agree so feel free to comment and leave your own suggestions at the end of this post.

Anyway, how did I come up with my top 3? Well two of them I’m sure you’ll agree, whether or not you think they are the best of all time, are genuinely fantastic saves from a purely goalkeeping perspective. My final choice gets in on a slightly different criterion: the ingenuity factor! When you see which save I’m talking about, I think you’ll understand what I’m saying. But regardless of whether you’ve watched these saves before, please sit back and enjoy the goalkeeping genius…

´

3) Rene Higuita’s Scorpion Kick: * * * * *

This is an incredibly famous save, so it’s unsurprising that Youtube has numerous videos which feature it and have collectively been viewed millions of times. The thing that’s so good about this is that it is not at all by the book. Instead, it is a moment of genius and bravery from a crazily acrobatic and somewhat unorthadox soccer goalie. At the risk of conceeding a goal, he flicks his heels up over his head and makes a firm contact with the ball on the undersides of his feet. I give this five stars not only for its novelty value, but also for the excellent execution with which this incredibly difficult save was pulled off- this is not your average keeper!

´

´

2) David Seaman’s Claw Hand: * * * * *

David Seaman is a goalkeeping legend for Arsenal- when I went to Martin Keown’s testimonial game at Highbury, all the crowd wanted was for Seaman to make a return and chanted his name often above all else. In Euro ‘96, Seaman was officially the greatest goalkeeper in the world- he had experience, safe handling, supreme command of his area, great shot stopping ability and the size and presence to be a dominating aerial force. But pehaps he saved his best for a time when he was nearing the end of his career with Arsenal – he pulled off this utter moment of brilliance against Sheffield United in the FA Cup and can be seen (especially on the replay) to claw the ball in mid air off the goal line and away to safety- even though it had already gone past him! Have a watch in awe…

´

´

1) Gordon Banks’s v Pele

It is widely agreed that the Brazilian Pele is the greatest soccer player ever, and many say that England’s Gordon Banks is the best goalkeeper ever. So when the two came up against each other there was bound to be something special. The save that occurred is even said by Manchester United’s legendary goakeeper Peter Schmichael to be the best save he had ever seen. So do you agree with Schmichael, is this the best ever?

´

´

Well that’s the lot folks- the top three on my list done and dusted. Hopefully I’ve been able to explain and justify why I think these  are indeed the best soccer goalie saves of all time- and maybe you’ll agree. Great saves get made every week in soccer, but who knows when another save as spectacular as these will be made again.

Have fun,

Soccer Geek

P.S: While your waiting, why not leave a comment to give your views or share your favourites as well?