Not often in
the World Cup do you have a goalkeeper stealing the show.
Yesterday we
saw what perhaps will be remembered as one of the most dominant performances by
a keeper, that we have seen in modern football and World Cup history. The
performance of Guillermo Ochoa against Brazil yesterday was incredible, the
stuff of legends. Lev Yashin would be proud of Ochoa.
He is the
only reason Mexico has 4 points and is tied with Brazil on top of Group A.
Going into this game everyone was expecting Neymar Jr to be the star and the
storyline. Perhaps Oscar could steal the show and have another incredible
performance or Dos Santos for Mexico; he can always turn a game on its head.
These were all strong possibilities, but what nobody was expecting was for
Guillermo Ochoa to be the star.
For a player
that is currently without club he put on a show that for sure will have his
agent’s phone ringing all day long. If you are looking at impressing a club, a
performance like that at the biggest stage of the world will go a long way
helping you secure a new contract.
It all
started when Neymar Jr headed a ball towards the net and Ochoa with an
incredible diving save, stops the ball right before it crosses the line. Immediately
as the ball was saved commentators and Brazilian fans had flashbacks of the
stop Gordon Banks did on a similar play during the 1970 World Cup. In that game
Brazil’s Pele was denied in similar fashion by an incredible Banks, this time
it was the “new Pele”, Neymar that was being denied. The similarities between
both plays are evident, but the fact that both came from headers of Brazilian
star strikers makes it even more incredible. At that point you knew that it
would take something very special to beat Ochoa on this day.
He continued
to rack up saves upon saves, not all of them of a high degree of difficulty but
all of them of equal importance. He was keeping his team in the game and was
able to shut down a powerful Brazilian offense. He was frustrating the
Brazilian players that by this time were probably scratching their heads
wondering what would take for them to score a goal.
Another
player that would add his name to the list of frustrated Brazilians was Thiago
Silva. In the 85th minute he is free in the box and has a powerful
header that Ochoa is able to swat it away. An incredible reflex save that
pretty much saved the game and the point for Mexico. That save was just another
incredible save to add to the highlight package that Ochoa was putting
together, it was his night and nothing or nobody was going to take it away from
him. No surprise that he won the man of the match award, who else could have
taken it?
For the
person checking the score sheet after the game, the assumption would be that it
was a boring match with no goals. For those that tuned in on TV or that had the
pleasure of being in the stadium, it was an incredible entertaining match with
a goalkeeper putting on a show that for many years will be remembered as one of
the best performances by a goalkeeper in a World Cup tournament.
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