World Cup 2010: Favorites for the Golden Gloves
With the World Cup underway, the pressure on the players is only growing as fans' anticipation reaches fever pitch. While all 736 players involved in this summer's fabled tournament will have their eyes on lifting the trophy come July 11 at Soccer City in Johannesburg, a select few will also have their eyes on another, more individual prize.
The favorite five for the golden gloves include Spains Iker Casillas, this considering the fact that Spain conceded just five goals in their 10 qualifying matches, which amounts to one every two games or a goal every 180 minutes says something about Casillas. Next is Brazils Julio Cesar, which is mostly because beasts like Lucio at the back, make sure chances are hard to come by for the opposition. Then we have England’s David James. England's goalkeeping and defensive situation is far from sorted, but the Three Lions conjure up an image of die hard, last ditch defending. Then we have Argentina with Sergio Romero. With Diego Maradona in charge of his beloved Argentina, anything is possible. Even though they let in 20 goals in qualifying, the lack of fire power in Nigera, South Korea and Greece may be a saving grace. And the last of the five favorites is Italy with Gigi Buffon, which does seem likely after a qualifying campaign that saw them concede just seven goals. But New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia will hardly test the regimental Mediterranean’s, especially with the dependable Gigi Buffon in goal.
Next we have the good value bets, starting with Germany’s Manuel Neuer with just five goals given away in qualifying. With a goalkeeper that is highly rated across Europe, Germany should be hard to score past. And then France with Hugo Lloris could do it as well. They didn't exactly chuck goals away, but conceded nine in 10 games.
Hugo Lloris, though, is more than capable of earning a clean sheet on his own. Then there’s Holland with Maarten Stekelenburg . The Dutch were the meanest of all the European sides at qualifying, letting a mere two goals in, and could be a good bet. Portugal with Eduardo have a good shot too, finishing just two points behind group leaders Denmark in qualifying and conceded only five goals. The man between the sticks is the relatively unheard of Eduardo, who plays for Braga. Then we have Serbia with Vladimir Stojkovic who is Wigan’s understudy. Vladimir Stojkovic guards the goal for Serbia, and did a pretty good job in qualifying, letting eight goals in as Radomir Antic's side topped their group ahead of France, Austria and Romania. Keeping the goals out against Germany will be a different story, though.
And finally we have the worthwhile picks starting with Ivory Coast, despite the fact that Africa is not known for producing World Class shot-stoppers, at least Ivory Coast keeper Boubacar Barry can lay claim to having the best name at this year's tournament. Only four goals conceded during qualifying but since when have Burkina Faso, Malawi and Guinea been known for their fire power? Next we have Mexico. And of course Jorge Campos isn’t around to blind people with his self-designed goalie shirts. The unattached, 37-year-old Oscar Perez is the No.1 these days, but if he turns up in a multi-color jersey, he's probably going to have many bets on him. Then there’s Chile, with Claudio Bravo who may well be able to keep the goals out against plucky Honduras and Switzerland, but will be a busy boy against Spain. Fans expect that clean sheet to be ruled out early on. And lastly, there’s Paraguay. If Justo Villar is anything like former Paraguay keeper Jose Luis Chilavert, he can be expected to take the team's penalties, free-kicks and just about anything he can get a shot on goal with.
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