Goalies should be leaders on and off the field

Dubai Germany is consciously choosing a new breed of goalkeepers who have the ability to be leaders and confident competitors on and off the field, according to national team goalkeeping coach Andreas Kopke. "The emphasis today from the scouts is to have young goalkeepers who are confident in their personal lives, and people who can soak up the pressure and demands of the modern-day game," Kopke told a group of coaches on the opening day of the ‘GS Goalkeeper Symposium' being held under the auspices of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC). Kopke is leading a panel of goalkeeping experts from Europe during the two-day seminar being held as part of the DSC's initiative in improving the standard of football coaching methods in the UAE. Discussions on the first day attracted more than 60 goalkeeping coaches from all UAE clubs. Kopke, who donned the German colours 59 times, said the German Football Association is making a conscious effort to ensure the appropriate candidates are recruited keeping the future of the game in mind. "One of the most practical criteria laid down for future goalkeepers is to ensure they are tall and also to test their ability to jump high merely because modern-day football has so many goals through crosses coming in from the flanks," Kopke remarked. Later, Kopke led a panel discussion while answering questions from the participants along with other experts including Dr Karl-Heinrich Dittmar, manager of the medical department at Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Dimo Wache, former goalkeeper of Mainz 05. After the lunch break, the three coaches were involved with the training of the UAE's youth team goalkeeper in an attempt to impart the most modern goalkeeping techniques and tactics.