Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Ball not to blame for goalkeeping howlers
The standard of goalkeeping in the early stages of this World Cup has not been the best but blame cannot lie with the controversial Jabulani ball.
Keepers and even strikers have criticised the adidas ball for being too light but the makers have said it is the roundest and truest ball ever created.
If we look at the three major keeping howlers so far in South Africa, I don’t think any of them are down to the ball.
England’s Robert Green let Clint Dempsey’s shot through his fingers in a 1-1 draw with the United States simply through a lack of technique and maybe nerves. The ball was bouncing along the ground so swerve was not an issue.
Football mourns loss of a great talent and a modest man
Robert Enke had none of the extrovert qualities associated with the great goalkeepers in German football folklore, larger than life figures such as Sepp Maier and Oliver Kahn.
He didn’t quite reach the same levels of achievement on the field either but this modest man will certainly be remembered as a great talent.
