I also thought Akinfeev was excellent throughout the tournament.
Think he would have been my 3rd choice behind Casillas and VDS.
Although in another post I said that I do not rate Buffon as highly as some people, I will happily say I thought he had a very good tournament. Made some outstanding stops. Just needs to work on his fashion sense though!
Also in a tournament where it seemed fashionable to knock Lehmann I thought he did pretty good to be honest. Think he got a rough ride from a lot of commentators and pundits which reminded me of what happened to Robinson last season. Questioning goals he conceded when they would not look at it twice if it was another keeper.
I thought overall the standard of keeping was very high throughout the tournament and we still never saw one goal scored due to the new ball!
Really enjoyed it all being able to watch every game as a neutral, but hoping I don't have to watch the World Cup as one!
Question: If the player with the most goals get the golden boot award why doesn't the keeper with the most saves get the golden glove? I'm not arguing with the results as all three keepers had great tournaments but sometimes I think players in general get top awards because of who they are not what they've done.
How many times have you seena game where the keepers on both teams are absolutely awesome and the games end 1-0 and the man of teh match is the person who scored? Granted it's in our nature to celebrate the winner/scorer but we're keepers right? Last line of defence first line of offence? Cliche I know but had to say it.
while the golden boot goes to the highest scorer, the player of the tournament award usually goes to the player who had the most impact.
i don't think anyone can deny casillas the award in this tournament as his impact on Spain was immense. not only did he lead them to victory as captain, but he made some crucial saves to ensure their passage at every juncture.
while other keepers such as VDS, akinfeev, volkan and pletikosa impressed me, casillas' all round excellence was one of the key factors in spain winning the tournament. for this reason, he deserves to win.
Totally agree. I guess I'm just saying there should be a golden glove award as well.
Golden Boot - David Villa
Golden Glove - Igor Akinfeev
MVP - Iker Casillas
cardiffkeeper: while the golden boot goes to the highest scorer, the player of the tournament award usually goes to the player who had the most impact. i don't think anyone can deny casillas the award in this tournament as his impact on Spain was immense. not only did he lead them to victory as captain, but he made some crucial saves to ensure their passage at every juncture. while other keepers such as VDS, akinfeev, volkan and pletikosa impressed me, casillas' all round excellence was one of the key factors in spain winning the tournament. for this reason, he deserves to win.
Not that I disagree, but I think Spain would have won with Reina in goal as well. The only question mark would have been the penalties, which Pepe is good at as well. Otherwise I don't think there was anything he couldn't have handled, certainly not in the Final, which just required a couple of punches? Spain is just a great team at the moment.
Sir David Healy made a fool of this Iker dude everyone is talking about.
Northern Ireland where the last time to beat Spain, so we are the best team in Europe.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Just for national pride reasons, I have to point out that it was actually ROMANIA who were the last team to beat Spain: 15th of November 2006, 1-0 in Cadiz. Northern Ireland were close, and they were the last team to beat them in competitive matches, 6th of September 2006, 3-2 in Belfast.
Liviu Bird
iker had a good tournament and possibly hes the best goalie in the world
Can I vote for Ricardo Pereira as the WORSE EVER GOALKEEPER in an UEFA EURO competition ?!
Well, not really, he made a fair job at home in the last Euro 2004, but this one was too bad to be true, but nothing that I wasn't expecting , to be honest ...
For Best UEFA EURO 2008 Goalkeeper all I can do is wish that Iker Casillas wins. Van der Saar, Gigi Buffon, Volkan Demirel and Lobont also did well. Pletiklosa was a positive surprise to me.
i firmly believe that Edwin Van Der Sar is the best in the world, i rate him up with Schmeichel.. Edwins technical ability is excellent as is his kicking- and with both feet.
yes edwin had a good tournament, but i feel he had a fairly average to poor season. there were a lot of times i would have expected him to catch of claim balls but he didn't. at man utd, i feel he did a job but looked like he was filling in for the next keeper to come in.
at fulham he was the main man because he was a gear above the rest of the players. i feel he would be a class keeper at a UEFA cup team as i think he is past his peak and would command that type of competition and lend his experience to the players infront of him.
i know people will have varying opinions on him but i think he is past his best and will be second best to ben foster later on in the season