A football team is made up of 11 players. The 11 players are made up of defenders, midfielders, wingers, strikers or forwards and just one goalkeeper.
There is no way a team can play a match without a goalkeeper. And there is no way a team can have more than one goalkeeper at the same time on a field of play.
A football team goalkeeper is the last man or woman standing. If a goalkeeper is beaten during a football match, a goal is as good as scored because he or she is the player responsible for keeping the goal in order to prevent the opponents from scoring goals.
Now, here are the qualities of a goalkeeper:
1. Clear Vision: A football team goalkeeper is supposed to have good eyes. He or she ought to be seeing very well. A goalkeeper that has any form of eye defect or problem is liable to make mistakes that can result in conceding cheap goals. A goalkeeper should be able to see the ball very well as it comes but he or she cannot see it if he or she lacks a clear vision.
2. Agility: A goalkeeper has to show a great level of sharpness, liveliness, dexterity, quickness, or alertness. In fact, this is one of the most important qualities of a goalkeeper. A goalkeeper should not be there at the goalpost in the first place if he or she is too dull to go for the ball as it comes to the goalmouth. This is why a goalkeeper should not be heavy, obese or overweight – he or she should be light so that he or she can dive without any difficulty.
3. Confidence: A goalkeeper should be as brave and bold as a lion or a cat. There is no way a goalkeeper can operate if he or she is full of tension and fear. In fact, a football team stands a chance of losing a match if the goalkeeper lacks the much needed confidence to keep the ball.