Suarez must be considered the best goal-keeper of the tournament

I think we already have the best Goal- Keeper of the tournament before the World Cup officially ends in South Africa. Luis Alberto Suarez, the striker turned keeper of the Uruguay team deserves this medal if there is any. He made the most significant save of the tournament becoming a ‘hero’ in his country, Uruguay.

Suarez confidently claimed “the hand of God now belongs to me" and admitted "I made the save of the tournament". He went on to confess that there’s no way he could have prevented that goal-bound ball from scoring apart from catching it like a goal-keeper. He boasted in an interview that during training sessions he sometimes plays the goal-keeping role, which implies he’s all along been training for such. This is not about ball-to-hand or hand-to-ball issue. It’s about catching the ball, a player becoming a keeper.

I really can’t recollect any other save in the tournament that changed the complexion of the whole soccer fiesta. Taking a second and a careful view of the whole scenario, it’s obvious that Suarez’s team mate Nicolas Lodeiro also made an attempt but his hands couldn’t get to the ball. It seems they were both competing for the best Goal-Keeper of the tournament.

It is now clear that there is a thin line between being a player and a keeper on the field of play depending on where one finds himself. Players can now go for the balls with their hands once they are sure there’s no option to saving their teams. After all, your team will have the opportunity of being penalised with a penalty which might not even be scored.

There’s soon going to be a flood of similar occurrences, especially in tensed moments during football competitions and so far as the punishment remains a penalty it’s worth the try. Uruguay must celebrate whiles it lasts. Better luck next time to Black Stars! FIFA should be thinking about it – we’ll soon be having more goal-keepers on the field of play.

By Frank Agyemang

(agyemangfrank@gmail.com)