) First, I want to say that I know I've been gone a long time. If you really want to know where I've been, you can check out my travel blog here. I've been really freaking busy for over a year now, but I'm hoping things will settle down soon.
Now that that's out of the way, on to the post!
I'm a huge fan of soccer, and that gets me snubbed by a lot of American sports enthusiasts who think soccer is "boring." Boring?! Soccer is the sport of the world! Why is the US the only country that doesn't embrace it? This just further enhances my belief that Americans are freaks. (Note: I'm American, so I can say these things.)
Well, my inner fan has been turbo-charged this World Cup due to one factor: awesome goalkeepers. They have been rocking it out there! From Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa shutting out one opponent after another to Keylor Navas sparing Costa Rica from elimination against Greece and stopping every shot the Netherlands made during game play. From Manuel Neuer's "sweeper keeping" for Germany to Tim Howard's record-setting 16 saves in a single game for the US. This World Cup has been all about the goalkeepers. Take a look:
"Memo" Ochoa, a fortress against Brazilian strikers
Keylor Navas, savior of Costa Rica
Manuel Neuer, proving keepers can defend both in- and outside of the penalty area
Tim Howard, who was named U.S. Secretary of Defense (briefly on Wikipedia) for breaking a goalkeeping record
I almost added Sergio Romero of Argentina to this post for his great saves in the penalty kicks against the Netherlands, but I'd like to wait and see what he does in the Final match against Germany. Since I'm a fan of the German team, I hope to see more of Neuer's sweeper keeping on Sunday and less of Romero's swift saves.
