World Cup 2006 Goalkeeper Saves video

This is just great. Another video made by YT user LCTrussell1992Media, showing the best saves of World Cup 2006.

So many great saves of Ricardo! It was his best tournament for sure. Wish Portugal had made to the final.

Liked also Buffon's saves. Amazing double save in 0:38-0:43. And Artur Boruc. Remember him especially from the very dramatic match against Germany. He proteced Polish goal sucessfully for 90 minutes. In 91' Germany scored...

Goalkeepers in the video: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Argentinia), Fabien Barthez (France), Aldo Bobadilla (Paraguay), Artur Boruc (Poland), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Nelson Dida (Brazil), Shaka Hislop (Tinidad and Tobago), Dragoslav Jevrić (Serbia and Montenegro), Oliver Kahn (Germany), Kasey Keller (USA), Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Japan), Jens Lehmann (Germany), Ricardo (Portugal), Paul Robinson (England), Oswaldo Sánchez (Mexico), Mark Schwarzer (Australia), Edwin Van Der Sar (The Netherlands), Lee Woon-Jae (South Korea).

IFFHS: The World‘s best Goalkeeper of the First Decade (2001-2010)

Gianluigi Buffon was named by IFFHS the best goalkeeper of the decade. Iker Casillas is on the second place, while Petr Cech is third. The two first goalies can switch places by the end of the year, as annual votes from 2010 will be added to the total value of the points.

The ranking is based on:
- annual vote by different jurors (countires) on three top places (3 points to 1 point) in early years; in later years on four top places (4 points to 1 point),
- IFFHS annual ranking of the goalkeepers; points were given for the top twenty places (20 points for the first place, 19 for the second etc. to 1 point for the 20th).

	Goalkeeper	Country	Points (2001-2010)
1.	Gianluigi Buffon	Italy	170
2.	Iker Casillas	Spain	157
3.	Petr Čech	Czech Republic	120
4.	Oliver Kahn	Germany	99
5.	Edwin van der Sar	Netherlands	92
6.	Nélson de Jesus e Silva "Dida"	Brazil	90
7.	Jens Lehmann	Germany	72
8.	Roberto Carlos Abbondanzieri	Argentina	68
9.	Fabien Barthez	France	55
10.	Rogério Ceni	Brazil	53
11.	Francesco Toldo	Italy	52
12.	José Manuel Reina	Spain	50
13.	Victor Valdes	Spain	49
14.	Júlio César Soãres Espíndola	Brazil	44
15.	Jerzy Dudek	Poland	42
16.	Igor Akinfeev	Russia	41
17.	Santiago Cañizares	Spain	35
18.	Grégory Coupet	France	28
19.	Rüştü Reçber	Turkey	27
20.	José Luis Félix Chilavert	Paraguay	26
21.	José Francisco Cevallos	Ecuador	25
	Timothy Matthew Howard	USA	25
23.	Andonios Nikopolidis	Greece	24
24.	René Adler	Germany	23
25.	Bradlay Howard Friedel	USA	21
26.	Oscar Eduardo Córdoba	Colombia	19
27.	Andrés Palop	Spain	17
	Francisco Guillermo Ochoa	Mexico	17
	Justo Wilmar Villar	Paraguay	17
	Marcos Roberto Silveira Reis	Brazil	17
31.	Ricardo Alexandre Martins Soares Pereira	Portugal	16
	Vítor Manuel Martins Baía	Portugal	16
33.	Heurelho da Silva Gomes	Brazil	15
	Timo Hildebrand	Germany	15
35.	Juan Carlos Henao	Colombia	13
	Woon-Jae Lee	South Korea	13
37.	Oswaldo Sánchez	Mexico	12
38.	Ruslan Nigmatullin	Russia	11
39.	Andreas Isaksson	Sweden	10
	Carlo Cudicini	Italy	10
	Doniéber Alexander Marangon "Doni"	Brazil	10
	Hugo Lloris	France	10
	Ivan Pellizzoli	Italy	10
	Óscar Pérez	Mexico	10
	Peter Schmeichel	Denmark	10
	Samir Handanović	Slovenia	10
	Séamus John James Given	Ireland	10
48.	Magnus Hedman	Sweden	8
	Mark Schwarzer	Australia	8
	Pascal Zuberbühler	Switzerland	8
	Ricardo Tavarelli	Paraguay	8
52.	Nigel Martyn	England	7
	Sergey Ovchinnikov	Russia	7
	Agustín Julio	Colombia	6
	David Seaman	England	6
	Roberto Óscar Bonano	Argentina	6
	Tony Mario Sylva	Senegal	6
	Vyacheslav Malafeev	Russia	6
59.	Artur Boruc	Poland	5
	Carlos Fernando Navarro Montoya	Argentina	5
	Fabián Carini	Uruguay	5
	Sander Westerveld	Netherlands	5
	Sebastián Saja	Argentina	5
64.	Germán Adrian Burgos	Argentina	4
	José María Buljabasich	Argentina	4
	Manuel Rivero	Spain	4
67.	Thomas Sørensen	Denmark	3
68.	Grégory Wimbée	France	2
69.	Carlos Idriss Kameni	Cameroon	1

Source: http://www.iffhs.de/

Conclusions:

- I'm almost sure Iker is going to outrun Gigi, as Buffon lost half of the year due to an injury,
- interesting to see that Ricardo and Vitor Baia occupy the same place,
- only two Polish goalkeepers made to the list - Jerzy Dudek and Artur Boruc,
- the fact that El Hadary of Egypt is completely missed in this ranking suprises me the most
- really curious if any African goalkeepers are going to make on the list after the final vote.

Internation friendly: USA vs Poland 2-2 9 Oct 2010, video highlights and photos

That was a really good game to watch. I must admit I didn't believe Poland was going to show something interesting here. So good that my predictions never come true.

USA was fast and dangerous as always, and was leading the game for the most time, but Poland managed to equalize two times. Both teams committed mistakes in the defence and the ending was really dramatic, especially for Poland, which was inches from losing a goal in the injury time.

It was nice to see ambition and involevment on both sides, as if it was not a friendly but a game for points.

Jozy Altidore made a good job, scoring one goal and coming close to score another.

In Polish team Jakub Błaszczykowski showed an excellent shape, and his actions on the right wing were very dangerous. Ludovic Obraniak also did good job, and had assists in both goals.

Ok, get to the point, what is the performance of the goalkeepers. Artur Boruc, as always, saved situation in crucial moments. Had to make the first save at the very beginning of the match. The most dramatic was of course the one in the injury time, when he made a save from just a few meters distance. He made 3 saves in total.

Tim Howard had a lot of work to do. He saved a situation one on one (however, Robert Lewandowski could do better than kicking the ball straight on the goalkeeper) and Obraniak's shot from the distance. Very fine performance of him. Liked his self-confidence and that he never lost focus. Strange feeling, to fell happy that the goalkeeper made a save, and sad at the same time, that Polish team wasted an opportunity ;) Howard made 5 saves in total.

Watch the video highlights

Artur Boruc in Poland - Ukraine 1-1 friendly match, 4 Sep 2010

It was a little better than in previous, disastrous games (0-3 with Kameroon, 0-6 with Spain). Finally, after so many matches without a single goal, Ireneusz Jeleń did score for Poland. But then, in 92' one costly mistake and the game eventually finished with a draw... However, it was not the goalkeeper's fault.



Artur Boruc was back in the national team's goal after a long break. It was nice, to see him in good shape. He did fine. Hope it's not a return just for one match.

What is happening with those Polish goalkeepers?

Football in Polands seems to be reaching the very bottom. It's nothing new. It's getting worse and worse, and without serious reforms nothing is going to be better.

The system doesn't produce exceptional players. Only a few names of Polish footballers might ring a bell to football fans aboard.

For long time goalkeepers were an exception, thanks to the good coaching system, which helped to discover the talents. A lot of Polish goalkeepers started to make a career aboard.

At least it was like that a few years ago. But now it seems that most of them faces the bad time in their careers.

Artur Boruc has to compete with Frey in Fiorentina. The transfer from Celtic was a good move, but the position of Fiorentina's no. 1 is strong. He doesn't seem to be national team's coach favorite, so he needs to make really good impression to be at least considered.

Łukasz Fabiański, who seemed to be one step from becoming no. 1 in Arsenal, is again reduced to the second choice, as the coach decided to count on Manuel Almunia. Wojciech Szczęsny is third in the row. Tomasz Kuszczak has been waiting for his chance in MU since years, but there is still Van der Saar between the sticks. Only Łukasz Załuska in Celtic is now no. 1, but how long it's going to last?

I don't count in Wojciech Kowalewski, because I don't think he was considered to be a part of Euro 2012 team. He is not lucky, was called-up only several times.

There is also Przemysław Tytoń, a new face in the national team. He is the first-choice in Roda Kerkrade. May it be his advantage?

So far it seems that it's Jerzy Dudek who had the most sucessful career of all Polish goalkeepers.

Two years ago I could name who is the unquestionable no. 1 in Polish goal. Now I'm not sure who is going to be called-up for the next friendly match...

'It was 1800 days of cold, wind and rain", says Artur Boruc

"It was 1800 days of cold, wind and rain", said Artur Boruc, when asked about his time at Celtic Glasgow by Scottish media. "But seriously, it was a great time".

"Celtic and its fan will always stay close to my heart. This club is a part of me now, just like my family and my fiancée. It was a great honor to play for Celtic."

"I think that playing for Fiorentina is a chance for me, to develop my skills. I came here to be the goalkeeper, I have no indention of declaring I will do this or that, blah, blah, blah. It's easy to give promises. Instead of talking, I prefer playing. The quality of my performance should speak for itself.

"Whoever comes, he better know that he'll be my second goalkeeper", says Frey

Monica08 found an interesting article at http://www.tuttosport.com/ page about Sebastian Frey and his attitude to his club plans to sign a new goalkeeper. He is seems to be almost offended by the fact the Fiorentina hired Boruc. Below is her translation of this news.

According to Tuttosport.it July 21 2010.

Frey has been the indisputable #1 goalkeeper at Fiorentina since 2005. So why in the world did Fiorentina on June 12 2010 bother to go look for other top goalkeepers abroad??

In short, once Frey knew that Fiorentina was looking for another top goalkeeper he "complained" to the media. Fiorentina didn't like it and fined him! Fiorentina did it to provide Frey with more challenges and motivation (stimuli in Italian) but apparently Frey took Boruc' signing personally.

Frey's quote:
12 June - "My future, I still see it at Firenze. I am doing very well here. I have 3 more years left in my contract. Even if my [Fiorentina] sporting director is looking for other goalkeepers, I will stay here. I think I showed what I'm worth all these years and my love for the shirt. I don't understand how can one search for another goalkeeper when one has Frey as the #1goalkeeper [titolare]. The money will have to be spent in another manner. All these rumors have surprised me. In any case, whoever [new goalkeeper signing] comes, he better know that he'll be my second [goalkeeper] because I still have lots of willingness to play. I am convinced that I'm still important for my club [Fiorentina].

Meanwhile today the new Fiorentina manager was presented and he said "There is still time to decide. They are two great goalkeepers, it will be up to them.". Source: http://www.tuttosport.com.



Boruc of Frey? Who is going to win this competition?

Artur Boruc signed a two-year contract with Fiorentina

Polish goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, signed a two-year contract with Fiorentina. He had already passed the medical tests and took part in the first training session.

In Celtic Glasow Artur was an unquestionable no. 1. Now he will have to compete for the place in the goal with Sebastian Frey. He probably won't be in the starting 11.

Boruc, known of his sharp-temper, had his ups and downs lately. He was crticized for bad performance in the qualifiers for World Cup 2010 and lost his place in the national team.

However, I will not forget when he was saving national team from the ashaming defeats. Match against Germany at World Cup 2010, when kept clean sheet till 90'. In 91' Germany managed to score. Numerous amazing one-on-one saves in the match with Austria at Euro 2008. It had to come to a penalty to defeat him. He was really good. Hope is going to come back to the national team.

Another Polish goalkeeper, Łukasz Załuska, stayed in Celitc at the first-choice goalkeeper.