Goal-line technology and world’s greatest football goalkeeper

During the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, England midfielder Frank Lampard scored a clear goal against Germany that both the referee and his assistants missed.

The ball crashed off the crossbar beyond the goal line before ricocheting back into play. Germany were then leading 2-1 and an England equaliser might have changed the outcome of the game.

Germany proceeded to win 4-1. For them, justice had finally been done after a 44-year wait. For in 1966, England’s Geoff Hurst hammered a similar shot off the cross bar to score his country’s second goal against the then West Germany. The Germans said the ball never crossed the line. But the goal stood.

England went on to win the match and the World Cup final 4-2.

Lampard’s “goal” changed the course of football. Except when fighting off governments who encroach on its territory, Fifa’s wheels grind slower than those of an earthmover. It doesn’t like changing its rules. “O Rei” – The King – as Pele was universally known during his heyday, tried to convince Fifa to introduce two referees in a game, citing the improving athleticism of the players. He thought they were moving too fast for one man.

He also suggested kick-ins at the touchline to restart the game after the ball went out of play in place of throw-ins. He believed they would improve the chances of scoring more goals. Pele was speaking to himself; he got exactly nowhere. But in the era of the instant, and slow motion television replay, Lampard’s doomed effort was going to have an effect.

Sepp Blatter, over whom many Africans shed a tear upon his forced resignation from the Fifa presidency, said candidly: “I have to say ‘thank you Lampard’. I was completely down in South Africa when I saw that. It really shocked me, it took me a day to react. It happened again in Ukraine, and Ukraine can still not believe it now.”

And with that, the era of goal-line technology started. Such is the power of the Fifa president; once he was convinced, there was no turning back. But there is something Blatter said then that I completely agreed with. Technology buffs were pushing for an overhaul of on-pitch decision making.

They wanted a video assistant referee to countermand the calls of the man blowing the whistle in situations of fouls, “simulation” – diving in the penalty area – and off-sides.

But Blatter decreed: “Other than the goal-line technology, football must preserve its human face.” I couldn’t agree more. The mistakes that human beings make are part of the thrill of the game. You want to put a face to the guy causing you stomach disorders so that you can describe the shape of his head over a drink. Machines are fine, but they have limitations. Blood does not flow in their veins, nay, wires. Electricity does.

Football lovers wish for a beautiful game; not a perfect one. Perfectionists should be guided by the memorable words of a legendary sportsman - a tennis player, not a footballer.

After losing a match against a masterful but eccentric opponent called John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, once described as the incredible tennis machine, was asked by a journalist why such a great man like himself could make so rudimentary a mistake. Borg replied: “Because I am not God.” End of story.

GOT IT RIGHT

Blatter got it right. We should bring God into football only to pray to Him but not to play Him. Let humans remain humans. Technology should be introduced into the game with the care of a medical prescription. Machines can’t address a press conference to explain themselves. Another thing: whereas you can wait for the offending official at his local for a come to Jesus meeting over his biases, you don’t know where to find a hacker. No, the human face of football must be preserved.

The subject of goal line technology always brings to mind the one person whose task it is to stop the ball from going over his line. The goalkeeper. Alone, he is allowed the use of his hands to handle the ball. He is unique in the field of play; he even dresses differently from his team mates.

If he gets hurt, the game stops until he recovers or is replaced. The others are just stretchered off and play continues. And if he has a treacherous trait, he alone has the capacity to throw a game without the connivance of his team mates and most likely get away with it.

He is a team’s last, and therefore most important, defender. His interventions, or lack of them, instantly mean victory or defeat. He must be a master of his territory, an expert in arranging defensive walls to block free kicks and a great reader of the attacking formations of opposing forwards. He must have the strength of a bull to survive the collisions that come with the effort of trying to dispossess charging forwards. And he must have the agility of a gymnast in the air and on the ground.

PROTECT GOALKEEPERS

Fifa has gone to great lengths to protect goalkeepers from malicious attackers. When it appeared that even the mildest contact with goalkeeper would result in a foul against his opponent, one Italian midfielder - Marco Tardelli, if I am not mistaken - told Fifa wryly: “Sorry, signor, it is not ballet dancing.”

And while giving tips to youngsters on how to become great footballers, Pele once said of the goalkeeper: “I am not the best qualified person to give you advice on goalkeeping. Still, it is a position which has always interested me. I don’t know whether it is because of the glamour that surrounds the goalie, his cool composure, courage, responsibility and the terrible importance of even one mistake, his view of the game or his different outfit.

“Quite frankly, I just don’t know what attracts me about playing in this difficult position. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I have come to respect the goalkeeper during my efforts to score 1,000 goals.”

In writing about goalkeepers and their special position in the game, it is fitting to remember the greatest that ever manned the posts. His name is Lev Yashin of Russia. He remains the only goalkeeper to have won the Fifa World Footballer of the Year – the Ballon d’Or – which he did in 1963. Because he always dressed in a full black outfit, Yashin was nicknamed the “Black Spider” since it appeared he had eight hands.

Famous for his athleticism and commanding stature, he revolutionised the goalkeeping position. Before him, goalkeepers just manned their goal line, waiting for the action to come to them.

It was Yashin who began the now common habit of rushing out of one’s line to narrow the angle of attack with opposing forwards. He is also the one who started organising defensive walls, shouting at his defenders as he did so. These days it is standard fare. Actually, his wife warned him against shouting too loudly. She could hear him from the stands!

Yashin played at a time when goalkeepers were not expected to captain their sides. He changed that, not in small measure because of his loud mouth. He was a great innovator and started the practice of punching out difficult balls instead of trying to catch them. He also started a team’s quick counter attack with a swift throw of the ball to his team mates as soon as he made a save. In fact, everything about Lev Yashin was about throwing the rule book out of the window.

He was “the peerless goalkeeper of the century,” the late Portuguese legend, Eusebio, said of him. You could take him at his word; he faced Yashin many times.

Yashin appeared in four World Cups, 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970. His awards came by the ton. In 2002 he was selected into the Fifa Dream Team of the History of World Cups. Fifa also chose him in the World Cup All-Time Team in 1994. In 1998, Yashin was chosen as a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. Fifa’s records show that Yashin saved 151 penalty kicks in professional football, way beyond any other goalkeeper. 

He also kept over 270 clean sheets in his career. Lev Yashin was voted the best goalkeeper of the 20th century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), an organisation that chronicles the history and records of football.

So unique was this man that even his secret for success is not recommended for budding goalkeepers.

When he was asked what he did to become so successful, he confidently said it was “to have a smoke to calm your nerves, then toss back a strong drink to tone your muscles.” Vodka, of course. Truly there was only one Lev Yashin in the game.

Fifa’s testimonial match in his honour was held at the Lenin Stadium in Moscow in 1971 with 100,000 fans attending. Global football icons such as Pele, Eusebio and Franz Beckenbauer graced it. Lev Yashin died in 1990.

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