Goalkeepers who turned into a goalscorers for their teams

Manchester City have some obscenely good players in their squad. So, it always seemed that they don’t lack any penalty-taking options. Sergio Aguero is the leading overseas goalscorer in the Premier League, Raheem Sterling scored in a penalty shootout in the World Cup, Gabriel Jesus has always had the composure yet when Pep was asked about the best spot-kick taker from the squad, his answer was shocking.   

He said,” Ederson is the best. Believe me, he’s the best taker we have in penalties. Eddy has no blood in his veins, he’s so calm so he could do it.” Guardiola’s claim makes it an interesting topic about some of the goalkeepers who have actually delivered from the penalty spot in the past. 

1) Rogerio Ceni 

The legendary Brazilian stopper enjoyed a 23-year spell with Sao Paulo where he scored 131 goals. That’s massive for a goalkeeper. He was best known for his curling freekicks but he scored the spot-kick very comfortably too.  

With Sao Paulo locked in a tense penalty shootout in the 2013 Campeonato Paulista semi-final against rivals Corinthians, Ceni scored a textbook panenka that made the opposition goalkeeper look a fool. 

2) Dimitar Ivankov 

The Bulgarian stopper enjoyed a long career, being a part of Levski Sofia for nine years before becoming a part of two Turkish clubs. Ivankov also scored 42 goals, the majority coming from the spot. He had one typical style and that was to smash the ball in the top corner. 

3) Hans-Jorg Butt 

Scoring two braces in a matter of months is not a great thing but to achieve the feat as a goalkeeper is simply impossible yet this man did it. Butt had a knack of converting penalties throughout his career but this habit began in 1999 when the German bagged two spot-kick braces against Stuttgart within a matter of months. 
The former Hamburg, Bayern Leverkusen, Benfica and Bayern Munich shot-stopper managed to score 32 career goals. 

4) Rene Higuita 

Higuita was the man who invented the famous ‘scorpion kick’ but the man who was called El Loco used to score too. He scored 41 goals overall in his 24-year career and one of his favorite and the most important goals came during the 1989 Copa America. El Loco stepped up to confidently slot home in a group stage game against Venezuela, celebrating in uncharacteristically subdued fashion. 

5) Jose Luis Chilavert  

Jose Luis Chilavert managed 46 goals during his club career and a further eight for Paraguay. Chilavert had an eye-catching dead-ball technique and netted some majestic goals.  One fantastic comment which was made on him was,” I don’t know what a Chilavert would be worth at today’s prices, but I’m sure it’d be a lot of money. There aren’t many goalkeepers who can go forward and score goals.” 

6) Victor Enyeama

During the 2009/10 season alone he scored seven penalties while playing for Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv. The feat was only two goals shy of top scorer Maor Melikson that campaign and he continued to convert from 12 yards in the years that followed. 

Featured image credits- goal.com