Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)
Still a standard-bearer for great goalies, the ‘Black Spider’ led his country into three World Cups, appearing in a fourth for good measure. Additionally, he was a pivotal presence in the Soviet Union winning the Olympic Games in 1956.
Revolutionary in his role, Yashin would charge off his line at every opportunity, unlike his peers who resolutely stayed at home. In that sense, he was football’s first sweeper-keeper, decades before it became popularised.
Moreover, he was, and remains, the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or, with those who were privileged to watch him insistent that he has never been bettered since.
Gigi Buffon (Juventus)
Joining Juve for a club-record fee in 2001, Buffon soon after took on the captain’s armband, his big personality and winning mentality making him the ideal candidate to lead a team stuffed with superstars.
Via his goalkeeping exploits that saw him nicknamed ‘Superman’ and the stature he carried that placed doubt in the minds of the world’s most prolific strikers, Buffon inspired the Zebras to two decades of dominance in Italy.
Each and every season they were hot favourites in the online betting to win Serie A. Nearly each and every season they obliged.
Even when the Calciopoli scandal rocked Turin in 2006, relegating Juventus to the second tier, their skipper stayed. Because that’s what leaders do.
Dino Zoff (Italy)
The only Italian to win both the World Cup and Euros, Zoff’s highly distinguished career for club and country was a study in longevity and excellence.
Famously, the keeper capped 112 times for the Azzurri was 40 in 1982 when he led his country to global success.
In the Euros meanwhile he still holds the record for the longest time not to be breached, including in qualifying. In the late-Seventies, no player put one past him in 784 minutes.
Inevitably, his air of authority saw him turn to coaching post-retirement, with Zoff leading Italy to yet another Euro final in 2000.
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
A case can be made that Neuer’s redefining of his position, becoming the archetypal ‘sweeper-keeper’, initially to the astonishment of onlookers, has resulted in his other qualities being down-played.
In truth, had the Golden Glove recipient at the 2014 World Cup never ventured beyond his box, he’d still be regarded as the most complete stopper of the modern age.
Phenomenally gifted in every area of his craft, Neuer wasn’t captain of his country when they won in 2014, being handed the armband soon after, but for his club he has long been skipper, as Bayern persist in hoovering up silverware.
Each August their football odds are shorter than Roy Keane’s fuse.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Casillas has won it all, then mostly won it all again, on most occasions leading his team to a temporarily constructed stage to lift each respective trophy to a backdrop of fireworks and glitter.
In 2010, it was his reliable grasp that held aloft the World Cup, as Spain’s tiki-taka changed the game, and there is the not inconsiderable matter of two Euros won also.
For Los Blancos meanwhile, there are too many La Liga titles to count while the player nicknamed ‘Saint Iker’ captained them to one of their numerous Champions League triumphs.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
