This opinion piece comes to you from The Pride of London contributor Majdi Ghaith, check him out on Twitter at @GloriousRain.
The World Cup in Brazil, aside from all the FIFA scandals and the lack of tending to the local population’s interests, will be remembered for its outstanding goalkeeping.
A not so conventional World Cup, the 2014 year has witnessed an odd sequence of events. The former world champion elite teams of 2010 and 2006, such as Spain and Italy respectively, gave their farewells in the early stages of the World Cup, leaving those teams’ fans angry and frustrated. Let’s not even talk about the Mike Tyson wannabe Uruguay striker Luis Suarez. England and their mishaps-forget it.
Of course the clever goals recorded this year, such as Netherlands’ Robin van Persie’s diving header and “the best World Cup goal thus far” by Colombia’s James Rodriguez, a thunderous back-faced-to-the-goalkeeper, volley from outside the 18-yard box, were certainly insane goals.
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But generations to come will talk about the unexpected performances of underdog teams and their respectful goalkeepers, “A Goal Keeper’s World Cup”.
We all can recall the US goalkeeper’s name, the incredible ‘Tim Howard”. But do you even know the Algerian goalkeeper’s name? Probably not and that’s unfortunate.
#ThingsTimHowardCouldSave, a hash tag campaign that has gone absolutely viral in the social media world, references Howard’s numerous saves. A fun movement indeed, with memes capturing legendary dramatic scenes that “could be saved” by Howard such as, Simba’s father in Lion King, the ship in Titanic, Ed Stark’s head from the famous series Game of Thrones and much more. Tim Howard’s achievements made history, by breaking the record for the most saves in a single World Cup match with 16. Howard will always be remembered as a hero for the American National Futbol team and even the anecdotal metaphor of “US Secretary of Defense”!
But lets not disregard the awesome performance put on by the Algerian goalkeeper. Wait, what is his name again? This goalkeeper was tossed around from one mediocre, secondary club team to the next. Furthermore, after being called up on the France under-17 and under-18 national teams, he eventually left to become the starting goalkeeper for the Algerian National Team. Similar to the US vs. Belgium match, the Algerian “Desert Warriors” eventually lost 2-1, as did the US, yet magnificent saves by goal keepers forced both matches into 120 minute games aka over time. All in all, both underdog teams played with enormous passion.
His name is “Adi Rais Cobos Adrien M’Bolhi”. Wow! A not so familiar name for the world to remember such as the likes of the recognizable three-syllable name, Tim Howard. Yet this formally underrated goalkeeper goes by the name of “Adi Ross M’bolhi” for short, and he had a total of 11 saves against Germany. M’Bolhi earned man of the match honors. So remember the movement and don’t forget…123 Viva Algeria!
#ThingsMbolhiCouldSaveToo
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