# Average American versus world's best goalkeeper **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 27, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-american-versus-worlds-best-goalkeeper/735843 "2015-10-27T03:49:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jaguars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaguars/32/5879_2.png) [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-american-versus-worlds-best-goalkeeper/735843/61 "2015-10-29T22:30:51Z")
Average American vs. Pro keeper? Not a chance. Slow, telegraphed and inaccurate. You’d be surprised how many beer league players miss an open goal during practice simply by messing up the balance of power/accuracy. I reckon if you tried all day and improved your technique, you might get 3-4. An American who has good kinesthetics or plays some other sport would score occasionally when everything goes right. Average American against average beer league keeper? Pretty good odds - say 20 - 45%, depending on skill of the keeper. Against a high-level amateur, its probably back under 10%. People are right that penalties are by design very difficult to defend, but when you practice stopping them every day, you get very good at it. ---
**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-american-versus-worlds-best-goalkeeper/735843/62 "2015-10-30T07:11:33Z")
If MLS players who are, ostensibly, professionals [have this hard of a time](http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/es-insano-timbers-advance-in-mls-playoffs-after-break-1739568545), then I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t stand a chance against a Solo or Neuer. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-american-versus-worlds-best-goalkeeper/735843/63 "2015-10-30T09:36:47Z")
> [@piepiepie](#): > > If MLS players who are, ostensibly, professionals [have this hard of a time](http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/es-insano-timbers-advance-in-mls-playoffs-after-break-1739568545), then I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t stand a chance against a Solo or Neuer. Hope Solo is 5’9. Just get it to either side of her, low near the uppight posts and you will score with her helpless to do much. Neuer is 6’4. A man mountain. Still as [this cite](http://www.scijourner.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101%3Athe-secret-to-saving-a-penalty-kick&Itemid=22) points out. > [@](#): > > “…A soccer goal has 192 square feet. It takes **a goalie about 730 milliseconds to reach a ball at the post**. **A ball shot at 70 miles per hour from 39 feet away can reach the top corner of a goal in 400 milliseconds**. This means the goalie has to make an assumption of where the ball will be kicked before the player makes contact with the ball. To do this, the goalie must observe every movement the shooter makes. If they wait until the ball is kicked it will be impossible… Even allowing for a slower ball speed, the keeper runs the risk of being too late if s/he waits to see direction and guessing wrong if s/he dives. The best keepers in the world are those who are excellent at reading attackers (not just at penalties, generally), thats what made Iker Casillas so effective. A pro is going to be less good at reading a layman than a fellow pro. I repeat, even the best ever i.e Iker Casilas circa 2008-2012, will struggle to save all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-american-versus-worlds-best-goalkeeper/735843.md?page=3)