the.com/keeper
The only player allowed to use hands, and the one always blamed anyway.
means A goalkeeper — the player stationed at the goal whose job is to stop the ball from going in — or, more broadly, anything or anyone worth holding onto.
from From Old English 'cepan,' to seize, hold, or guard, giving us 'keep' and then 'keeper' — one who keeps. The word has worn many uniforms over the centuries: gamekeepers minding estates, zookeepers minding beasts, shopkeepers minding tills. In football it shortens 'goalkeeper,' the one tasked with keeping the goal empty, and in love it survives in 'she's a keeper' — both senses sharing that same old instinct to hold tight to what matters.
- lone wolf
- Wears a different color to stand legally apart
- origin
- Goalkeepers could once handle the ball anywhere on the pitch
- reflex limit
- Penalty saves defy human reaction time, so they guess
- language
- "It's a keeper" means worth holding onto forever
- lonely position
- Last line of defense, first to be scapegoated
peter schmeichel — manchester united goalkeeper with 15 premier league titles, 1-1 draw vs bayern munich 1999
edwin van der sar — dutch keeper, 1311 consecutive minutes without conceding goal, manchester united 2008-2009
gianluigi buffon — juventus and italy goalkeeper, 656 serie a appearances over 28 seasons
manuel neuer — bayern munich and germany keeper, revolutionized sweeper-keeper role, 2014 world cup winner