Goalkeeper Quotes & Sayings

What a debut for the young goalkeeper, as a striker. — Peter Drury

For a while, I dallied with the idea of the law - I didn't really know what it was, but I thought it sounded sensible. And as a child, I wanted to be a goalkeeper. Or a butcher. — Rory Kinnear

I couldn't have been a great goalkeeper without power, agility and quickness. — Hope Solo

It does not make a goalkeeper look good and, after it, I did not want to celebrate out of respect for him. — Asmir Begovic

You score goals as a kid. Then you grow up stupid and become a goalkeeper. — Gianluigi Buffon

Don't try to beat the goalkeeper ... Tr y to destroy the goalkeeper. — Steven Gerrard

Manchester United could have any goalkeeper in the world. I was a 23-year-old kid from New Jersey who, from an early age, had to cope with Tourette's Syndrome, a brain disorder that can trigger speech and facial tics, vocal outbursts and obsessive compulsive behavior. — Tim Howard

Arsenal have a goalkeeper emergency at the moment. I'll gladly step in. — Jens Lehmann

Every old goalkeeper loses a step at some point, but you can gain that back through experience. — Tim Howard

The goalkeeper plays in a psychological position, and he's dealing with mental things. I wanted to describe the things I've done wrong and, most of all, what I've done right, so that other people, including those in other professions, could learn from my experiences. — Oliver Kahn

Look at this save. Cat-like, jungle-like, quick. Big puma. Big, beautiful, brave gladiator goalkeeper. Spartacus, I called him. Mix in a bit of octopus. Beautiful. — Ray Hudson

When I played in Holland, I always tried to lob the goalkeeper. People used to say, 'Oh, you're always only trying to make a nice goal'. But I said, 'Listen, if the goalie is a little bit off his line, how much space do you have on his left or right?' It's not a lot. 'And how much space do you have above him?' — Dennis Bergkamp

Being a goalkeeper is like being the guy in the military who makes the bombs - one mistake and everyone gets blown up. — Artur Boruc

In fact, my entire childhood consisted of looking at photographs in which the viewer sees the ball behind the line, looking through the goal net, and the poor goalkeeper in front of the net. — Orhan Pamuk

Liverpool's grand opera also gave us some light comedy - on hearing the news that the house of goalkeeper Pepe Reina was burgled, and his Porsche stolen, while he was heroically saving penalties at Anfield, fans took a typically witty line: police were said to be interviewing a man from the West London area, a certain Frank Lampard, whose whereabouts on Tuesday between 7.45pm and 10.15pm are unknown. Indeed. — Declan Lynch

Laila was a nightmare in goal, but Kevin and Neil had an advantage few teams who faced the Trojans had: they had a nightmare in their own goal who they had to practice against daily. They'd spent all year trying to outsmart the best goalkeeper in the south. They didn't have that much time to figure Laila out, but they didn't need it. — Nora Sakavic

What kind of a goalkeeper is the one who is not tormented by the goal he has allowed? He must be tormented! And if he is calm, that means the end. No matter what he had in the past, he has no future. — Lev Yashin

I enjoyed the position I was in as a tennis player. I was to blame when I lost. I was to blame when I won. And I really like that, because I played soccer a lot too, and I couldn't stand it when I had to blame it on the goalkeeper. — Roger Federer

I thought about soccer in history, the inspiration for wars, truces, rampaging mobs. The game was a global passion, spherical ball, grass or turf, entire nations in spasms of elation or lament. But what kind of sport is it that disallows the use of players' hands, except for the goalkeeper? Hands are essential human tools, the things that grasp and hold, that make, take, carry, create. If soccer were an American invention, wouldn't some European intellectual maintain that our historically puritanical nature has compelled us to invent a game structured on anti-masturbatory principles? — Don DeLillo

AFC Leopards were as thrilling a side as ever took the pitch and they dominated East African football in the eighties. That Kenyan players were an excitable bunch was attested to in one memorable Leopards match, with the opposing goalkeeper being handcuffed and dragged away to jail by police. — David Bennun

In a sense it's a one-man show ... except there are two men involved, Hartson and Berkovic, and a third man, the goalkeeper. — John Motson

I don't want to be remembered as a good goalkeeper. I want to be remembered as a great person — Iker Casillas

I played soccer all my life and I used to think growing up that they put the fat kid in goal or they put the kid that wasn't good with the ball at their feet in goal and I never wanted to do goalkeeper, I was always the goal scorer. — Hope Solo

Iker has never stopped being one of the best goalkeepers in the world. For me, Iker is a top goalkeeper and has never not been. — Cristiano Ronaldo

For a goalkeeper, there is no hiding place — Brad Friedel

Lukic saved with his foot, which is all part of the goalkeeper's arm. — Barry Davies

You were only a goalkeeper. — Diego Maradona

Football is a fertility festival. Eleven sperm trying to get into the egg. I feel sorry for the goalkeeper. — Bjork

Sometimes you surprise the goalkeeper and sometimes the goalkeeper surprises you. In my career, I tried to do more of the first than the second. — Eric Cantona

He has been outstanding. [Manuel] Neuer is an extraordinary goalkeeper, who would deserve to win it. — Johan Cruijff

I am not the best goalkeeper in the world, it is Vladimir Beara. — Lev Yashin

As a goalkeeper you need to be good at organising the people in front of you and motivating them. You need to see what's going on and react to the threats. Just like a good manager in business. — Peter Shilton

That's often the best place to beat a goalkeeper, isn't it, between the legs? — Clive Tyldesley

We arrived in Argentina with a lot of injured players, including our goalkeeper. Also we were unlucky to be drawn in the same group as the two tournament favourites Italy and Argentina. — Michel Patini

My first obsession was actually sports. I was a very good handball goalkeeper. With special permission, I played in the premier league in Germany before I was even old enough. — Peter Lindbergh

I've seen elbows that broke eye sockets. I've seen a German goalkeeper just level a French guy. His teammates thought he was dead lying on the ground. This was in 1982 at my first World Cup. But a bite is outside any kind of contact collision: dirty foul play. A bite is a bite. — George Vecsey

I can't fault my players. We created a lot of chances but we missed out on a victory because of the woodwork and goalkeeper Bonano, who did very well. — Frank Rijkaard

I had a certain system at penalties, I always watched the goalkeeper. — Thomas Muller

Everybody makes mistakes, but when goalkeepers make them, it is costly. That's the nature of being a goalkeeper. — Gary Speed

Being a goalkeeper gives you quite a unique perspective on things. You are part of a team yet somehow separate; there are no grey areas, with success or failure being measured in real time; and you have a physical job which you can only do well by paying attention to your mental well-being. A great goalkeeper has to have the keys to a great mindset. To be able to work well in the box, I believe you have to be able to think outside the box — Brad Friedel

It's best being a striker. If you miss five then score the winner, you're a hero. The goalkeeper can play a blinder, then let one in ... and he's a villain. — Ian Rush

When I played football, I liked being a goalkeeper or a midfielder. I was probably better at cricket. I would be a very good cricketer if I was a professional now. I think I would probably have been the best, in fact. — Usain Bolt

In 1972, my idol Gordon Banks was seriously injured in a car accident and lost an eye. He was still England goalkeeper and the world's Number One. I was absolutely gutted for Banksie. His career was over prematurely. He did make a comeback in America for a time, but he said he felt like people were coming to watch a bit of a circus act: 'Roll up, roll up! The world's only one-eyed goalkeeper.' And so he retired from football for good. When he lost his eye, I wanted to give him one of mine, that's how much I thought of him. — Stephen Richards

If you're a goalkeeper, it doesn't matter what you save the ball with - if you keep it out, it's not a goal. — Mark Lawrenson

The qualities that one needs to be a good goalkeeper are exactly the same as to be a good sculptor. In both professions one should have a good relationship with time and space. — Eduardo Chillida

Massive, massive mentality. The mental strength, you've just got to have that because you get a lot of stick, as a goalkeeper you're the last line of defence. When a goal goes in everyone looks at you, you've got to be able to deal with that. If you make a mistake, it could be a bad mistake, how are you going to recover? Are you going to react positively or are you just going to cave in? — David Seaman

I have never seen anything like that before. He must have given his last three managers heart attacks. I like to see those sort of things - as long as they come from the other goalkeeper. — Terry Venables

Ten years ago I also had a very difficult decision to make when we had (Carlo) Cudicini giving fantastic performances in Chelsea's goal for many years. I had in my hands a 22-year-old goalkeeper I thought could be in Chelsea's goals for years and years and years and this situation is quite similar. — Jose Mourinho

I'm not the sort of person who poses in their underwear. I hate the red carpet. I prefer the green grass. After the games the highlights show mostly the goals, scoring chances, assists. The spectator tends not to remember that as a goalkeeper I make difficult saves at great risk and start moves with my efforts. — Manuel Neuer

Everything Iniesta does impresses me. He could even play as goalkeeper. He's magical. — Zinedine Zidane