10 Most Unpredictable Goalkeepers Of All Time
These keepers were just a little bit mad.
Goalkeepers are a special breed.
It takes a certain type of person to desire the most solitary, pressure-ridden position on a football pitch, and yet so many exceptional talents do. An often thankless task, the best that a keeper can often hope for is to not to be the face of the blame or be the butt of the joke.
Goalkeepers are regularly the single player made an example of when a team has underperformed, because a mistake between the sticks can be the difference between a win and a loss. Therefore, it's fair to say that all keepers have a touch of unpredictability about them.
But these goalkeepers took it a step further. Not content just to be considered a bit mad, these men were, in their various ways, eccentrics of the highest order.
To quote the legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon: "In the end, you need to be a little masochistic to be a goalkeeper. A masochist and egocentric as well. A masochist because when you play in goal, you know the only certain thing in life is that you will concede goals."
Epitomising that ideal, these men are some of the craziest goalkeepers of all time.
10. Bruce Grobbelaar
Zimbabwean Liverpool legend Bruce Grobbelaar was a mainstay of the club during their hugely successful period during the 1990's. Sporting a Luigi-esque moustache, and shorts short enough to make even the proudest cyclist blush, Grobbelaar was certainly a product of his time.
One of the first African players to make an impact in the home of football, Grobbelaar was long considered one of, if not, the best goalkeeper in the old First Division. Grobbelaar used his eccentric tendencies to great effect throughout his career, but never as crucially as in the 1984 European Cup final against AC Milan.
With the game tied at 1-1, the final was going to be decided by penalties.
Grobbelaar remained unfazed throughout, despite Liverpool missing their first penalty. He implemented his now-famous spaghetti legs routine, oozing confidence, and leading Milan players Bruno Conti and Francesco Graziani to send their penalties skyward.
Grobbelaar retained his unpredictable streak throughout his distinguished career. In a Merseyside side derby in 1993, an enraged Grobbelaar pushed a young Steve McManaman in the throat because of a botched clearance that led to a goal.
The former Zimbabwe international is still playing the beautiful game, lining up for unrecognised national side Matabeleland in 2018.