Bettor.com's Football Team of the Decade – Goal Keeper
Bettor.com has decided to come up with a “Team of the Decade” for our readers. Selecting who will make it to the final eleven will be no easy task, as we have witnessed some of the greatest players of all times to have played during the last decade.
Bettor.com will take a look at each position in great detail and would also discuss other notable candidates before naming the player for that particular position.
This part will discuss the best Goal Keeper of the last decade. And the nominees are…..
Iker Casillas:
Playing for Real Madrid is a huge honour but being part of the first team for nearly 10 years and then captaining the team is a supreme honour to say the least. Iker Casillas is also the current captain of both his beloved Real Madrid and Spain.
The 29 year old is one of the rare players who can claim to have won every major trophy both internationally and at club level. Since bursting onto the scene as a youngster, Casillas was considered to be a special breed. He was a Real Madrid regular before
losing his place briefly during 2001-02 season to Cesar Sanchez, however, after an injury to Sanchez in the 2002 Champions league final, Casillas came on late to stop the Bayer Leverkusen onslaught .
Since then, he hasn’t looked back and has been the heart and soul of the Real Madrid team. He has been the best goal keeper in Europe for the last three years after he was selected for UEFA Team of the Year in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
He led his team to European Championships in 2008, their first International honour in 44 years. It rubberstamped the class of Iker Casillas as one of the best goal keepers and leaders in the sport.
Oliver Kahn:
Similar to Iker Casillas in many ways, Oliver Kahn spent most of his career at one of the most prestigious clubs in the World, Bayern Munich. The German spent 14 years at Bayern and won 8 Budesliga tiltes, 6 German cups, UEFA Cup and a Champions league.
His most famous contribution came at the 2002 World Cup where he won the golden ball. His performances during that world cup are considered by some as the best by any goalkeeper ever in the history of the game.
In the last decade alone, Kahn has won two IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper awards in 2001 and 2002 along with two German Footballer of the Year awards in 2000 and 2001.
Kahn was the runner up for FIFA World Player of the Year in 2002 and has also won the best European Goal keeper award in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
There was no one getting anywhere near him at the start of this decade. He was by far the best goal keeper during the early part of the decade. He retired from professional football in 2008.
Gianluigi Buffon:
When Juventus paid 30 million pounds to Parma for his services, many thought that this move will never be worth the money. No one now ever talks about that amount any more, rather everyone considers it to be one of the best pieces of business that Juventus
has ever done.
The Italian's consistency to come up with nature defying saves makes him one of the best goal keepers of all times. The most expensive keeper in the history of the game was instrumental in his side’s triumphant 2006 World Cup campaign.
He won two Seria A titles at the start of the decade but since than, his team has failed to match his class and consistency. Buffon, nevertheless, continued to pick up remarkable number of individual awards.
He has been named Seria A Goalkeeper of the Season astonishingly 7 times between 2001 and 2008 inclusive. Only year that he missed out was 2007 when Juventus were playing in Seria B.
He has won IFFHS Best Goalkeeper award four times in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007. Other major achievements include being named in European Team of the Year three times in 2003, 2004 and 2006. He also made it to FIFPro World XI in 2006 and 2007.
Buffon has been subject to speculation for a couple of seasons now, with Manchester United looking to make a move for the Italian. However, it seems highly unlikely that Juventus would let go of their most priced asset.
Buffon’s goal keeping abilities have never been in doubt and it’s hard to remember when the Italian last made an error on the football pitch. A true legend and could go on to become the best goal keeper of all times.
Verdict: Goal keeper of the decade - Gianluigi Buffon
Tags: