Goalkeeper (football)

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A goalkeeper.

In football, the goalkeeper is a playing position that represents the last line of defense 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 that is 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 are also commonly used. Also sometimes referred as 'custodian' or 'the man between the posts'.

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.

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]}.

The earliest account of football teams with player positions comes from Richard Mulcaster in 1581, however, he does not specify goalkeepers. The earliest specific reference to keeping goal comes from Cornish Hurling in 1602. According to Carew: "they pitch two bushes in the ground, some eight or ten foote asunder; and directly against them, ten or twelue score off, other twayne in like distance, which they terme their Goales. One of these is appoynted by lots, to the one side, and the other to his aduerse party. There is assigned for their gard, a couple of their best stopping Hurlers". ^[1]. Other references to scoring goals begin in English literature in the early sixteenth century, for example in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659): "I'll play a gole at camp-ball" (an extremely violent variety of football, which was popular in East Anglia). Similarly in a poem in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, And drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe". It seems inevitable that wherever a game has evolved goals, some form of goalkeeping must also be developed. David Wedderburn refers to what has been translated from latin as to "keep goal" in 1633 (however, contrary to media reports in 2006 he does not refer to the noun "goalkeeper". This is important as being a goalkeeper implies a fixed position throughout a match, whereas "keeping goal" suggests a temporary, fluid position accorded to whichever player or players find themselves nearest the goal. Wedderburn provides no evidence of such a fixed position on the field. It is not clear that what he meant by a goal was the same as modern usage; his word "metum" in the original latin means the object to mark the end of a chariot race).

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 and goal box.

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 from a teammate that is not made with their head, shoulder, or chest. As a result, all goalkeepers were required to improve controlling the ball with their feet.

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 except when they aren't in the penalty area where they are not allowed to use their hands and arms.

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

[edit] Goalkeepers in playmaking and attack

Goalkeepers are not required to stay in the penalty area. They may get involved in play anywhere on the pitch, and it is common for them to act as an additional defender during certain passages of the game. Colombia's René Higuita and Mexico's Jorge Campos were notable for their foot skills and their constant play outside the penalty area. 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. This rush – nicknamed a "goalie run" – 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 losing. The action very rarely succeeds, although players like Michelangelo Rampulla, Jens Lehmann, Peter Schmeichel, Mart Poom, Paul Robinson, Andres Palop, Brad Friedel and Massimo Taibi have been able to score in these situations.

Other goalkeepers have become notable at taking set pieces; for example, José Luis Chilavert, who is the only goalkeeper to score a hat trick (3 goals in a game), doing so through penalty kicks. He also was a free kick-expert. Rogério Ceni is the world's goalkeeper with the most goals scored, having scored 69 times (as of February 11, 2007) through free kicks and penalty kicks.^[2]

[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 goalkeeper gloves to improve their grip on the ball, and to protect themselves from injury. There are now gloves that have features designed to prevent injuries such as sprained fingers.