KEEPER SWEEPER KEEPS CLEAN SHEET

The earliest account of football teams with player positions comes from Richard Mulcaster in 1581; however, he does not specify goalkeepers. The earliest specific reference to keeping goal comes from Cornish Hurling in 1602. According to Carew: "they pitch two bushes in the ground, some eight or ten foot asunder; and directly against them, ten or twelve score off, other twayne in like distance, which they term their Goals. One of these is appointed by lots, to the one side, and the other to his adverse party. There is assigned for their guard, a couple of their best stopping Hurlers". Other references to scoring goals begin in English literature in the early 16th century; for example, in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659): "I'll play a gole at camp-ball" (an extremely violent variety of football, popular in East Anglia). Similarly, in a 1613 poem, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, And drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe". It seems inevitable that wherever a game has evolved goals, some form of goalkeeping must also be developed. David Wedderburn refers to what has been translated from Latin as to "keep goal" in 1633, though this does not necessarily imply a fixed goalkeeper position.

Initially, goalkeepers typically played between the goalposts and had limited mobility, except when trying to save opposition shots. Throughout the years, goalkeeping has evolved, due to the changes in systems of play, to be a more active role. Goalkeeper is the only position in which you can use your hands in the game of football (other than during throw-ins). The original Laws of the Game permitted goalkeepers to handle the ball anywhere in their half of the pitch. This was revised as late as 1912, restricting use of the hands by the goalkeeper to the penalty area.

And so we come to Manueline Neuer, regarded as the best in the World. He had to make a save or two tonight as the French huffed and puffed but he retained his reputation. Against Algeria he was far more stretched having to make 21 or his 59 touches outside his penalty area-with his feet I might add. You could argue that this brisk taking but actually Neuer is proving that you don't play in goal because you are a bad footballer. It used to be the fat kid who went in goal-no more! Unlike Harald Schumacher's notorious collision with Battiston in the 1982 semi-final, there are no broken teeth, or outrageous collisions. On that occasion, Schumacher stayed on the pitch, Battiston did not and Schumacher saved to two penalties in the shoot out, which Germany won. Neuer times his challenges to perfection. Is he going to beat Tim Howard's record number of saves in a World Cup match? Doubtful, since he is probably playing behind a better defence. It was Neuer's 50th cap tonight.