Fair Play: PSG FC's goalkeeper is one big stud

DURING the one and only time the Cebu Football Association  dopted the league format, the keeper of the champion team nearly cost them the title due to his theatrics.  While leading, 1-0, against a new team in the first game of the season, he came up with one of his signature antics.

The guy, who I think redefined "flamboyant keeper," was known for making simple moves complicated.  Instead of a simple pick up, he'd go on a roll, and sometimes, taunt the striker by shoving the ball at him.  


That time, it backfired.  He rolled, hit a striker, lost the ball and conceded a goal.  After a 1-1 halftime score, he got subbed and the team went on to win, 8-1.  (Click here for the report on that game)

That crazy move of his was recalled going into the final game of that season, when that team was set to face eventual second placer Crazy Horse.  Both were tied with five wins and a goal difference of 29, thanks to that goalkeeper.

I remember one time a coach telling me that goalkeepers are either gay or crazy, and I thought, well, he was definitely a stud. It's just a saying, but it's kinda true, though it's not about a mental state or gender preference.  The coach, who was part of the national coaching staff at the time, said it refers to one-on-one situations, some goalies are too timid to risk their hair getting out of place, while some are too loony and put everything on the line.

Crazy or gay. Nice.

Then there's a whole new other level like what the Pasargad FC keeper did against Global in the opening of the 2013 UFL season.

When commentators start counting the number of rolls instead of a keeper’s saves, you’d know he’s something.  Intentionally tripping over a striker he himself tripped? He did that?

Some footballers generally try to pull the ref’s leg with simulations, right? This guy, literally pulled the striker’s leg, and when the striker got up and pushed him—as expected—he went down for good measure.

This guy’s a stud. A stud, who, like what GMA football pundit thinks Roy Moore, should get penalized for unprofessional behavior.

He’s a bad example and since it’s just the opening of the season, the UFL should show what they’d do to bad examples.

I remember back in the early 2000s, during an epidemic of diving, not just among the pros, Fifa president Sepp Blatter blamed cable TV for it and said, “The amateurs are doing it because they see their idols on TV doing it.”  

This guy makes for good TV, but is bad for the game and the league, especially one that is gaining new fans.  I hope this act gets cut in the bud, before Reza Ataei enters the Pinoy sporting lexicon as a verb, or worse, an adjective.

He's an embarrassment to all other keepers in the country.

(Here's a video of his antics, courtesy of futbol.ph) 

(www.cebufootball.blogspot.com)

Comments

TheClockworks said…
He's entertaining and that is what the sport really needs. Tell me how did the PBA gain so much following in the early 80s? Because of the antics of the players. The balyahan, rivalries, tauntings, shenanigans of Jaworski, punch ups etc. You gotta attract not just the purists but also the bakya. So lighten up.

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