The best goalkeeper from each of the 7 continents

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Today we’re looking at shot-stoppers, so here’s our take on the best goalkeeper from each of the 7 continents.

7. Asia – Jo Hyeon-woo

Whilst the best right now and greatest of all time continents videos were largely pretty straightforward to put together, this one was a real head scratcher, with only one indisputable pick in my opinion. In the interest of clarity, when it comes to Eurasian countries like Russia and Turkey, we have classed them as Europe, since in footballing terms at least, they are European.

With respect to Asia, it was a choice of two players, Metz and Japan shot stopper Eiji Kawashima and South Korean number one Jo Hyeon-woo. Maybe his impressive World Cup performances are tainting our perspective, but in the end, we’ve gone for the South Korean. Still only 26, Hyeon-woo has made the K-League Best XI three times. Currently contracted to Daegu, Hyeon-woo has great reflexes, handling and distribution, and was talked about as a potential option for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

6. Africa – Carlos Kameni

Carlos Kameni of Malaga CF celebrates after Sandro Ramirez of Malaga CF scored the opening goal during the La Liga match between Malaga CF and FC Barcelona at La Rosaleda stadium on April…

For a long time, the obvious choice for Africa would probably have been Vincent En-ya-ma, the 35-year-old Nigerian who racked up 101 caps before retiring from the international scene in 2015. However, Enyeama hasn’t played any football in over a year, having fallen out with the club hierarchy at Lille, who narrowly avoided relegation to Ligue 2 last season.

Then we come to the likes of Itumeleng Khune and Andre Onana, but we think Carlos Kemeni is the pick of the bunch. Another veteran at 34 years of age, Kameni racked up more than 300 La Liga appearances with Espanyol and Malaga, before joining Turkish giants Fenerbahce last summer. A well-rounded shot stopper who has bagged some 70 caps for Cameroon, Kameni made nine appearances in the Turkish Super Lig last season.

5. Europe – David De Gea

There are a number of fine European goalkeepers from Jan Oblak to Hugo Lloris and Thibaut Courtois, but the standout two are Manuel Neuer and David De Gea. I would say Neuer has had the more impressive career to date, a higher level of peak performance and undoubtedly a greater influence upon the game.

However, based on pure ability, our pick is De Gea. The Manchester United shot stopper has been worth at least 10 points a season – every season – for the last 5 campaigns at Old Trafford. He has been named as the club’s Player of the Year three times and has made the Premier League Team of the Year five times. Neuer meanwhile has just returned from a lengthy injury, but we wouldn’t bet against him returning to his best in the near future.

4. North America – Keylor Navas

Blerim Dzemaili of Switzerland (not pictured) scores his team’s first goal past Keylor Navas of Costa Rica during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group E match between Switzerland and Costa…

This too will be a controversial choice, I suspect, although it really shouldn’t be. Keylor Navas has been Real Madrid’s undisputed first choice for the last three seasons, during which time he has racked up more than 130 appearances and Real have won three consecutive Champions League titles. Navas has rarely let Real down in that time, and if they do sign Thibaut Courtois this summer, Navas will either put up a brave fight for the number one shirt or move on with his head held high.

The next best North America has to offer would be Guillermo Ochoa, who is very impressive for Mexico but has had a pretty miserable club career over the last four years, and Tim Howard, who has had a very good career but is 39 years old now. All in all, it has to be Navas.

3. South America – Ederson

South America presents an altogether much trickier choice. We’re big fans of Argentina’s Geronimo Rulli, and despite his World Cup clanger, Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera, but the top two would have to be Brazil’s Alisson and Ederson. Brazil boss Tite clearly prefers Alisson, but then he only took Brazil to the World Cup quarter-finals, so what does he know…

We’d go for Ederson, who is an exceptional all-round sweeper ‘keeper. A thoroughly competent shot stopper and a quite brilliant footballer by goalkeepers standards, Ederson enjoyed an excellent debut season at Manchester City. Still only 24, Ederson is only likely to improve, and that should be a frightening prospect for any of Manchester City’s future title challengers.

2. Australia/Oceania – Matthew Ryan

Mathew Ryan of Australia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group C match between Australia and Peru at Fisht Stadium on June 26, 2018 in Sochi, Russia.

When we said there was only one really straightforward selection we suspected few would argue with, this is the one we meant. The third Premier League player in this seven, Ryan joined Brighton from Valencia last summer. A decent enough goalkeeper, the 26-year-old is closing in on half a century of caps for Australia already, and he stands a good chance of overtaking his childhood hero Mark Schwarzer as the nation’s most capped player one day. The only other candidate would be fellow Aussie Brad Jones, whose career has enjoyed a renaissance in the Netherlands now aged 36, but we’d put him second to Ryan.

1. Antarctica – Mikhail Flippers

He may now be playing in the second tier of the Antarctic Peninsula Football League, but there are few doubts among those on the ice as to who remains the continent’s finest shot stopper. Although he could seem young to us at 12 years old, Flippers is a veteran by penguin standards, yet he is still renowned for his agility and lightning reflexes, which more than make up for his diminutive size. Nicknamed ‘the Snow wall’, Flippers has the second most clean sheets in Antarctic history and has saved 28 out of the 29 penalties he has ever faced.

Russia reportedly tried to get Mikhail to represent them at the 2018 World Cup on home soil in place of Igor Akinfeev, due to a supposed Russian grandparent in Flippers lineage, but their attempts were thwarted by FIFA who discovered that there have never been penguins in Russia.