8 BEST GOALKEEPERS IN PENALTY SHOOTOUTS OF ALL TIME

Penalty shootouts are the ultimate stage for a goalkeeper to shine. No one is ever blamed for failing to save a free shot from 12 yards out, but they are revered around the world if they can get a glove on the ball.

Replays, the drawing of lots and even a coin toss were all used to decide games between teams that could not be separated in cup competitions before football's governing body eventually introduced penalty shootouts in 1970. The last half-century has produced a catalogue of spot-kick superheroes.

From legendary figures to obscure specialists, penalty shootout experts have taken on all forms over the years. Here are some of the greatest to have dominated the most intense aspect of the sport.

Ranking factors

• Shootout performance - These rankings are focused on spot kicks in the uniquely pressurised setting of a penalty shootout, rather than any effort from 12 yards in normal time.
• Importance of the occasion - Beating the ball away in the latter stages of a major international competition will be viewed more favourably than performances in the early rounds of an obscure cup.
• Penalty reputation - Some goalkeepers can get the better of an opponent before a kick has been taken. These psychological battles - borne out in the number of penalties missed as well as saved - are also considered.

Bruce Grobbelaar

Notable teams: Liverpool

Bruce Grobbelaar did not conform to any norms. The Zimbabwe international's trophy-laden career at Liverpool was defined by his eccentricities as much as his excellence. Grobbelaar would regularly charge off his line to claim high crosses, was always eager to put himself forward as a penalty taker and once borrowed an umbrella from a nearby fan during a rain-soaked contest. The goalkeeper's most famous unorthodox moment won Liverpool the 1984 European Cup.

Reds boss Joe Fagan assured Grobbelaar that he would not be blamed ahead of the penalty shootout against Roma in the continent final before offering one piece of advice: "Make sure you try to put them off." Liverpool's number one made the ingenious decision to lollop over to the goal line, preparing to face each spot kick with a rubbery tactic that became known as his 'spaghetti legs'. Grobbelaar didn't actually make a save in the shootout but takes credit for the wayward efforts of Bruno Conti and Francesco Graziani.

Justo Villar

Notable teams: Paraguay

Justo Villar was captain of Paraguay during a golden era in the nation's history. A diminutive figure among his fellow goalkeepers - standing at a whisker under 6 feet - Villar was the solid backstop for a side brilliantly coached by Gerardo Martino. The South American nation reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup after a penalty shootout against Japan before narrowly losing to eventual champions Spain.

The skipper saved his best work for continental competition. No goalkeeper has had more penalties missed against them in the long history of the Copa America than Villar. Across consecutive tournaments, Paraguay knocked out Brazil after penalty shootouts dominated by the agile custodian. Villar led his side to the final of the competition in 2011 after making saves in successive shootout victories. Uruguay decided the showpiece, winning the nation's 15th Copa America title, before it came to penalties.

Helmuth Duckadam

Notable teams: Steaua Bucuresti

Helmuth Duckadam's heroics for Steaua Bucuresti against Barcelona in the 1986 European Cup final surely ranks as one of the greatest performances in penalty shootout history. Almost every spectator squashed into Seville's Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan ground was rooting for Barcelona, but Duckadam wasn't nervous, quite the contrary. "This is my moment," he remembered thinking to himself after the goalless final went to a shootout.

In an era when match footage was scarcely available, Duckadam had not seen Barcelona's penalties in their semi-final win against IFK Goteborg. The cerebral Romanian goalkeeper instead tried to get into the mind of each taker. As he once said: "If I hadn't become a footballer, I definitely would have been a psychiatrist." Duckadam saved all four penalties to seal Steaua's first and only European Cup.

The poker enthusiast had come up trumps but, aged just 27, that glorious night in Seville would be the last peak of his professional career. Doctors discovered an aneurysm in Duckadam's right arm shortly after the final, which prevented him from playing another game or penalty shootout.

Gianluigi Buffon

Notable teams: Juventus, Italy

Gianluigi Buffon's reputation as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time came with a crushing weight of expectation during shootouts. As the Italian explained: "I'm one of those handful of goalkeepers who are always expected to save at least one or two of those penalties. And if I don't do that, I'm going to be judged really harshly by the press."

The 'Maradona of goalkeepers', as he was dubbed, duly lived up to the billing more often than not. The only major shootout of Buffon's career in which he failed to make a single save ended with him lifting the World Cup trophy aloft. Buffon's former Juventus teammate David Trezeguet knew he had to put the ball so far into the corner to evade his reach that he struck the crossbar.

Harald Schumacher

Notable teams: West Germany

Harald Schumacher was decades ahead of his time when it came to goalkeeper training. The German custodian used to work with javelin throwers and high-jumpers to improve various aspects of his game. But there was little Schumacher could do to prepare for the penalty shootout against France in the 1982 World Cup semi-final. It was the first set of spot-kicks in the tournament's history.

The game is defined by Schumacher's brutal collision with Patrick Battiston during normal time, which left the Frenchman concussed and down two teeth but saw Germany's keeper escape any punishment. One of the biggest controversies in World Cup history didn't faze Schumacher, who palmed away two spot kicks to send Germany to the final. The steely shot-stopper rose above the deafening roar of the home crowd to save two Mexican penalties at the 1986 World Cup, underscoring his expertise in the field.

Ricardo

Notable teams: Portugal

Portugal's maverick goalkeeper Ricardo took an unusual approach to penalty preparation. When it came to the white-hot intensity of a shootout situation, the Iberian shot-stopper didn't rely upon statistics or probability, instead devoting his energy to mind games. "My technique is only to make them feel worried," Ricardo revealed after prevailing in a second successive penalty shootout against England in as many years.

In Portugal's home tournament of Euro 2004, Ricardo provided a dramatic conclusion to the quarter-final against England. As the shootout entered sudden death, Ricardo took off his gloves to palm away Darius Vassell's timid spot kick. Portugal's number one dusted himself down before drilling the decisive penalty into the bottom corner.

When the nations met in the World Cup quarter-final two years later, Ricardo assumed centre stage once again with no fewer than three penalty saves, denying Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. No other keeper has ever made as many saves in the same shootout at a World Cup.

Sergio Goycochea

Notable teams: Argentina

One of the world's greatest penalty shootout artists might have never been unveiled had it not been for a Soviet striker. Oleg Protasov inadvertently broke the leg of Argentine goalkeeper Nery Pumpido in the second game of the 1990 World Cup. Sergio Goycochea assumed his position and cemented his place in history.

After Diego Maradona missed his kick in the quarter-final shootout against Yugoslavia, Goycochea assured him: "Stay cool, Diego, I'm going to save two." The promoted backup delivered, sending his nation into a semi-final against hosts Italy, where he rebuffed another pair of spot kicks. After losing the global showpiece, Argentina won the Copa America final three years later thanks to Goycochea's heroics in shootout victories over Brazil and Colombia.

Emi Martinez

Notable teams: Aston Villa, Argentina

Lionel Messi hailed Emi Martinez as "a monster of a keeper" after the outspoken custodian rebuffed three penalties in the 2021 Copa America semi-final. COVID restrictions forced the tournament to be played behind closed doors, providing clear audio of Martinez's jibes towards Colombia's penalty takers. "I'm going to eat you alive," the goalkeeper bellowed at Yerry Mina, who saw his stuttering effort beaten away.

Martinez rose to the occasion as Argentina won the 2022 World Cup, saving three spot kicks across two shootouts in the knockout stages. Whistling Lille fans keenly remembered Martinez's antics during the showpiece against France when he lined up with Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the 2023/24 Europa Conference League. Despite receiving a second yellow card during the shootout, Martinez remained on the pitch to deny two Lille players, placing a finger on his lips with a typically defiant celebration.

2024-04-20T03:38:11Z dg43tfdfdgfd