Goalkeepers

Scottish Premiership Keeper Appears To Mentally Fall Into A Black Hole

30-year-old Ross County goalkeeper Scott Fox committed one of the strangest howlers you’ll see all season during his side’s defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership over the weekend. 

A poor back pass invited pressure on Fox, but the experienced keeper displayed some great footwork to evade the challenge and create some space for himself. But in the four seconds to follow, Fox appears to suffer from a severe brian fart — a brain shart or even brain diarrhea. 

Watch Memo Ochoa Bail Out His Defense With An Amazing Triple Save

Mexico international goalkeeper Memo Ochoa bailed out his Standard Liege defense with an incredible triple save Sunday.

Ochoa faces down an attacker one on one and forces the ball wide, ultimately dispossessing the attacking player.

Marseille Keeper Steve Mandanda Skill Checks The Living Hell Out Of An Attacker

So yeah, the linesman has his flag up for offside, negating the reality of Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda’s actions here, but the attacker for NK Domzale doesn’t know that. He’s going full bore, which really makes this combination Cruyff Turn/Rolled Nutmeg bloody murder.

The 32-year-old French international set the tone with this skill check. Is it any surprise, with the Stade Velodrome suddenly set to lit level 10, that Marseille scored the opener only 12 minutes later?

Watch This Sweeper-Keeper Sweep Up His Teammate And Let The Opponent Score

This Vietnamese goalkeeper had it all under control. A long ball played forward, he thought he’d just stroll 30 yards from his goal and clear the ball a la Manuel Neuer. Simple, right?

Or not. 

Maribor Keeper Shows Off Most Amazing Reflexes To Keep His Team In Champions League

Everyone loves a good hero. Jasmin Handanović was that hero on Tuesday night for NK Maribor in a Champions League playoff against Hapoel Be’er.

Holding on to a slender aggregate lead on away goals in the 90th minute, the Maribor goalkeeper came up with an incredible sprawling save to keep his team ahead. 

The Back-Pass Rule Forced Keepers To Learn To Play Soccer With Hilarious Results

The average age of players in the English Premier League is 26.8, meaning the vast majority of footballers weren’t playing 25 years ago when the most dramatic change to the game in recent times was instituted. Many weren’t even alive in 1992 when FIFA decided to prevent goalkeepers from picking up passes intentionally kicked to them by teammates. 

Thibaut Courtois Explains Why Goalkeepers Shouldn't Take Penalties

I have some thoughts on goalkeepers taking penalties. Goalkeepers taking penalties is a net positive from an entertainment standpoint. Goalkeepers taking penalties is a net negative, from a soccer standpoint.

Sure, there have been goalkeepers who double as penalty specialists and they are professional footballers, so they can be expected to have enough skill to score from the spot when called upon. On the other hand, hello Thibaut Courtois in the Community Shield:

Who Invented Penalties And Were They Sick In The Head?

There's perhaps no other refereeing decision, in any sport, that causes the deep emotional reaction of the awarding of a penalty kick. When the call is made for a spot kick from 12 yards out, the response is typically either a flurry of expletives and impending sense of doom or the feeling of utter joy derived from receiving a blessing, depending on which side of the call you are.

And it seems these feelings are warranted — stats show that there’s a 75-80% chance of the penalty being converted.

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