THE SOCIAL HUB 34
The world of social media reacts to the month of April NOT TODAY, HARRY
Manchester United’s David De Gea grabbed yet more attention recently. The Spaniard was again in fine form as Louis Van Gaal’s men eased past Tottenham 3-0. He also managed to deny red hot Harry Kane a goal, which led to this amusing meme explaining why Kane couldn’t find the back of the net for a change.
SORENSON ON HIS BIKE
Thomas Sorensen announced he’ll be cycling across the USA after the season is over to raise money for the charity KidsAid. The Dane tweeted he was at the stage in his career where he wanted to give something back. Good luck Thomas!
GUNNING FOR IKER?
As rumours of Dea Gea to Real Madrid intensify, Iker Casillas is being linked with a move to Arsenal. The 33-year-old could be left out in the cold at Real, and the experienced stopper would be an asset to any team. Would he really make a switch to London?
TAKING OVER THE FAMILY BUSINESS
Leicester goalie Kasper Schmeichel made a stop his dad would’ve been proud of against Burnley. As a shot took a wicked deflection he reacted to stick out a right hand and paw the ball away with a great reflex save. Foxes legend Gary Lineker was one of many to tweet their appreciation.
THE FUNNIEST OWN GOAL EVER?
As own goals go, the number one goalie in Jordan Mohammad Shatnawi could have claimed the best ever. For his club Al-Faisaly, he made a good save but then somehow overhead kicked the ball into his own net with an ill-judged attempted clearance.
FEDERICI’S HELL
After his mistake meant an Arsenal victory in their FA Cup semi-final, Adam Federici got a bit of a hammering online. But his Reading teammates stuck behind their man and so did boss Steve Clarke, who backed the Aussie to bounce back quickly.
BAYERN V DORTMUND: PENALTY DRAMA
Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich’s German Cup semi-final went to penalties and it was BVB’s Mitchell Langerak who was the hero. The Australian may be Dortmund’s number two but Bayern didn’t net a single penalty. They missed the target with two of them, Langerak saved from Mario Götze, and then Manuel Neuer struck the final one against the crossbar.
ADRIAN’S HAT-TRICK
When he stopped Charlie Austin’s penalty for QPR, West Ham’s Adrian joined an elite club of goalkeepers. Only eight others have saved three in a row in England, with Fabien Barthez and David Seaman among them.
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LEGENDARY SAVES
IN the rich history of the World Cup there are host of iconic moments that involve goalkeepers. Dino Zoff was the first ever to captain a team to glory when he won the trophy with Italy in 1982, whilst Iker Casillas was superb in Spain’s maiden World Cup win. But one goalkeeping moment stands out and still to this day, is regarded as one of the greatest saves in history. Gordon Banks won the World Cup with England in 1966 and going into the 1970 tournament in Mexico he was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers on the planet. His teammates weren’t bad either, with Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton still in the ranks.
The save would be a makeable one with today’s equipment but Banks had other issues to contend with. To start with the Stoke City man would have been handling a much heavier ball back into the 1970s. It would have been much more difficult to make routine saves back then because the ball had such force behind it, let alone using dives or fingertips to deny a goal. The second factor doesn’t really come across on the old recordings, but it is the way Banks makes the save. The ‘keeper doesn’t just push the ball wide of the post as it first appears, he actually dives back towards the goal and scoops Pele’s header over the crossbar.
And when England tackled the might of Brazil early in the tournament, Banks was obviously going to have to be at his very best up against the likes of Pelé and Jairzinho. England were struggling to contain their opponents early in the game, and when Brazil broke down the right in the first half Jairzinho stood a wonderful ball up for Pelé at the back post. The centre-forward leapt to get his head on the ball, powering a header down into the ground. It looked impossible to stop as it bounced just in front of Banks and was headed right for the far corner, but somehow, the England stopper managed to keep it out.
Banks continued to pull off wonderful saves in the second half, but was powerless to prevent Jairzinho’s winning goal. Both teams eventually went through to the knock-out stages; England were knocked out by West Germany in the quarter-finals, whilst Brazil went on to win the tournament. But Banks’ save has been forever engrained in the annals of the game. Pele said to this day he’s still unsure how Banks managed to claw the ball out. Typically modest, Banks spoke about the save last year and said, “after all these years I cannot believe people still talk about it”.
“ From the moment I
headed it, I was sure it had gone in. I had already began to jump to celebrate the goal.
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Banks and Pele
Pelé