Neuer is not your ordinary goalkeeper he is one of the foremost sweeper-keepers in world football and is a vital component of Germany’s game system under Joachim Loew. Regardless, Neuer has made it to Germany’s final 23 for the World Cup and the 1.93m custodian will be one player the entire world will be watching with much focus in Russia. The 32-year-old has had a season blighted by injuries, limiting him to just four appearances for Bayern Munich in 2017-18. That said, De Gea still plays a vital role in starting attacks for Spain as seen in la Roja’s 6-1 win over Argentina in March.ĭespite winning the Manchester United fans’ Player of the Year award four times in the last five seasons and making the PFA Team of the Year in five of the last six seasons, Russia 2018 will see De Gea line up in a World Cup finals game for the first time in his career.
He made the sixth most saves in the division and also equalled a record for the most saves (14) in a game against Arsenal last December.ĭe Gea’s impeccable reflexes have seen him make improbable saves but there is a bit of concern over his distribution, which isn’t yet the level of Marc-Andre ter Stegen or Ederson. De Gea is on the back of another terrific season with Manchester United in the Premier League. He was also the key factor in Roma making it to the Champions League semi-finals, saving more shots from inside the penalty area (2.4 per 90) than any other goalkeeper in the tournament who played more than six games.Ī solid World Cup would see his value skyrocket even more, as a tug-of-war for his signature lies in wait.ĭe Gea will wear the Spain number 1 shirt for the first time in a major tournament and this might well be Spain’s year after a disappointing 2014 campaign. Alisson will be one of the goalkeepers to watch in Russia not only because of his own exploits in front of goal but also because he will likely keep Manchester City’s Ederson – world’s most expensive goalkeeper – on the bench for Brazil.Īlisson racked up impressive stats this past season with Roma – his command of the penalty area is phenomenal having notched 1.8 saves per 90 minutes for shots inside the box in Serie A. The 25-year-old has turned heads after his rapid rise since moving to Europe with Italian outfit AS Roma from boyhood club Internacional in 2016, so much so that he is now valued close to an outrageous $100 million in the transfer market. So, who are the custodians most likely to make an impact in this summer’s FIFA World Cup? There are quite a few candidates, and we run them down in this list of top goalies to watch out for in Russia. Goalkeeping is a specialised position in football that requires extra attention, be it in the form of personalised goalkeeping coaches or wearables that captures data completely different from an outfielder. Hence, it is no surprise that the most recent World Cup winning goalkeepers – Manuel Neuer, Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon – have attained legendary status in the global game and deservedly so. These players, who try to kill the fun in football by stopping goals, are now among the most prized assets of a team and it is now clearly established that to succeed at World Cups, an elite goalkeeper is an absolute necessity. Gone are those days when goalkeepers in football were an afterthought.
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