27 of the 96 goalkeepers participating the World Cup did more that just save shots, they helped save lives.  Keepers including Pepe Reina, Hugo Lloris, Boubacar Barry, and Itumeleng Khune teamed up with Uhlsport for a part of the “WE TAKE ACTION” campaign.

Goalkeepers are influential leaders on the field, but Uhlsport allowed them to be influential off the field as well with their most recent partnership. As the most-represented brand of gloves in the 2010 World Cup, Uhlsport could have raised prices but instead took a much more selfless and responsible approach by raising awareness of what so many people overlooked during the World Cup: the ever-saddening AIDS epidemic and its effect on the lives of children in South Africa.  Uhlsport’s goalkeepers teamed up with SOS Children’s Villages, a group that looks after abandoned and orphaned children who lost their parents to AIDS and who may also have AIDS as well.  Uhlsport’s 2010 World Cup Collection has been building awareness and donating a portion of their proceeds to the SOS Children’s Villages in South Africa.  You can also donate, here.

Iker Casillas

Casillas was a vital part of the Spanish side that only conceded 2 goals throughout the whole tournament.  The defense was an integral part of the teams success (the team only scoring 8 goals), especially the leadership, organization, and of course game changing saves from Casillas which include crosses, breakaways, point blank headers, and of course the penalty shot against Paraguay.

Other FIFA World Cup 2010 awards include:

adidas Golden Ball – Diego Forlan, Uruguay

adidas Golden Boot – Thomas Mueller, Germany

Best Young Player – Thomas Mueller, Germany

FIFA Fair Play Award – Spain

Puma Powercat 1.10 – This cleat was worn the most on the field by goalkeepers.  Soccercleats101.com has a great review on the cleat.  Stay tuned to why Bryan thinks this cleat was chosen the most by goalies over the other 10 players.

Eduardo, PortugalGianluigi Buffon, Italy

Eiji Kawashima, Japan

Diego Benaglio, Switzerland

Jan Mucha, Slovakia

adidas Predator X TRX - the Sea of Yellow.  adidas’s 10th anniversary of the widely popular and successful predator style and celebrates South Africa’s first hosting of the world cup with it’s yellow design.

Manuel Neuer, Germany

Vincent Enyeama, Nigeria

Maarteen Stekelenburg, Holland

Alexandros Tzorvas, Greece

Noel Valladares, Honduras

Nike CTR360 Maestri Elite - very hard to find soccer cleats.

Sergio Romero, Argentina

Nike Vapor Superfly V - You would think many goalkeepers would look for a boot with more protection and stay away from the Vapors.  Thomas Sorensen from Denmark thinks otherwise and wore the sold out soccer cleats.

Thomas Sorensen, Denmark

Lotto FuerzaPura – Federico Marchetti, Buffon’s replacement wore these simple cleats and so did Barry Boubacar.

Federico Marchetti, Italy

Boubacar Barry, Ivory Coast

adidas adiPure III TRX – a very simple and modest cleat from adidas.  It’s one of the less expensive cleats worn during the World Cup as well.  You may just want to read more about them.

Samir Handanovic, Slovenia

Robert Green, England

Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly II – another goalkeeper making the surprising choice of the vapors.  Maybe it’s not so surprising since Khune made more saves with his feet than hands.

Itumeleng Khune, South Africa

Under Armour Dominate Pro - this simple designed cleat was worn by Mexico’s keeper, Oscar Perez.  He wore it in white with black.

Oscar Perez, Mexico

umbro sx valor II - worn by England’s David James and his teammate John Terry (not pictured).  Pretty good cleat with a simple design.

David James, England

adidas F50 adiZero – a flashy pair of cleats (especially for a goalkeeper) that was only worn by one starting goalkeeper.

Justo Villar, Paraguay

Nike t90 Laser III – this cleat was marketed for the likes of Wayne Rooney, so you wouldn’t expect a goalkeeper to be wearing these.

Mark Paston, New Zealand

Nike Tiempo Legend Elite - another Nike cleat from their Elite collection worn by starting goalkeepers of the World Cup.

Tim Howard, USA

Jung Sung Ryong, South Korea

Rais M'Bolhi, Algeria

Claudio Bravo, Chile

Vladimir Stojkovic, Serbia

Nike Total 90 Laser Elite - this cleat was made for speed, but we found two goalkeepers wearing these in the World Cup.

Richard Kingson, Ghana

Souleymanou Hamidou, Cameroon

Nike Mercurial Vapor VI – you may have seen these cleats worn by several field players on the field, but it was worn by Algeria’s goalkeeper who sat the 2nd and 3rd game of the tournament after conceding a soft goal.

Faouzi Chaouchi, Algeria

The classic adidas copas/adidas world cup cleats were spotted on some of the keepers on the bench and Germany’s second string keeper Hans Joerg Butt.

Hans Joerg Butt, Germany

White goalkeeper jerseys seemed to be worn more and more by popular keepers.  The clean look doesn’t guarantee a clean sheet, but an all white goalkeeper kit could make a keeper seem more intimidating to its opponents.

An all white goalkeeper kit is not that hard to find, especially if you’re willing to wear a short sleeve goalkeeper jersey.  PUMA makes a great all white goalkeeper jersey, as seen on Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera (see right). Matching shorts, similar to the ones worn by Gigi Buffon (above) are called the PUMA v1.08 Short.  Other than PUMA’s Powercat 1.10 Goalkeeper Jersey, you’ll either have to get a white team soccer uniform in your choice of short or long sleeves.  There is not much difference between a field player jersey and a goalkeeper jersey – goalkeeper jerseys will tend to have light padding in the elbows or shoulders, which many goalkeepers prefer not to have.
Some recommended all white goalkeeper kits (from soccer team uniforms):

Long Sleeve White Goalkeeper Jerseys:

adidas Squadra II Long Sleeve Jersey

Umbro Winchester Long Sleeve Jersey

Nike america long sleeve jersey

Before the tournament started, we would have said the favorites would have been:

Iker Casillas – there is a reason why Casillas captains both Real Madrid and Spain at 28 years of age and has a ‘contract for life’ with Real Madrid – he’s just that good.  He has great reflexes and is one of the best shot stoppers of the game.

Julio Cesar - arguably the best goalkeeper Brazil ever had.  He has been a key component for Inter Millan’s four straight Serie A wins and winners of the Champions League.

Gianluigi Buffon – he only allowed 2 goals during the 2006 FIFA World Cup and is the latest recipient of the Lev Yashin Award.  Buffon has lots of experience at the elite level and is a very reliable goalkeeper.

Hugo Lloris – he’s the best goalkeeper in the French league and was a big part of his team qualifying for the World Cup.

Idriss Kameni - he’s one of the best goalkeepers from Africa and is playing on his home continent.  Being that Cameroon isn’t one of the strongest teams in the tournament, Kameni would be tested.

Tim Howard - he’s shown tons of improvement during his past seasons with Everton FC and has something to prove.

Manuel Neuer – he’s one of the youngest goalkeepers in this year’s World Cup, Neuer was named the best goalkeeper in the Under-21 FIFA World Championships.

After the group stage was finished we crossed off all goalkeepers whose teams didn’t make it through – Hugo Lloris, Gianluigi Buffon, and Idriss Kameni.  We then added Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera and the Netherland’s Maarten Stekelenburg for their great play and part of their teams advancement to the knock-out stage of the tournament.

Now as the Quarterfinals are finished, we crossed off Julio Cesar for his costly mistake against the Netherlands, and Tim Howard for his poor positioning conceding a near post goal.

Who do you think will be the 2010′s World Cup’s best goalkeeper and recipient of the Lev Yashin Award?

Fernando Muslera – after facing 5 penalty shots (1 right before the end of the second half of overtime and 4 during the penalty shootout) against Ghana, Muslera only allowed 2 to go in.  He’s a great young keeper and will be a big part of Uruguay’s success for the rest of the tournament.

Maarten Stekelenburg - made a couple of great saves and helped Netherlands beat the favored Brazil in the quarterfinals match.  Will he help keep clean sheets and help the Dutch win a world cup?

Iker Casillas – not only saved the penalty shot against Paraguay, but he held it and changed the momentum of the game for Spain.  He will see more action in the next coming games.

Manuel Neuer – if Germany wins the next two games, Neuer may receive his next best goalkeeper award.

The failed pk attempt during stoppage time of the 2nd overtime period – Muslera did not make the save, but went the right way on the missed shot:

Asamoah Gyan then took the first penalty shot for his team during the shootout.  Gyan went to the keeper’s left, Muslera went the correct way again:

Ghana’s second attempt in the penalty shootout was taken and scored by Stephen Appiah.  Muslera went the right way again and was just inches from making the save:

Fernando Muslera then made his first save against Ghana’s Dominic Adiyiah.  The penalty shot was not  hit hard enough or far enough away from Uruguay’s keeper and Muslera handled it perfectly:

Muslera then becomes his country’s hero when he saves the next attempt (also to his left) this time against Ghana’s captain, John Mensah:

One common myth about goalkeepers gloves is the price tag resembles quality.  This is a very costly soccer myth as goalkeeper gloves can be as expensive as $180! That’s more expensive than a decent pair of cleats!

There are plenty of affordable and quality gloves on the market and many keepers have been wearing these gloves during the 2010 World Cup.  Let’s take a look at the top 3 affordable gloves worn by 2010 World Cup starting keepers.

PUMA Powercat 2.10 Grip RC Glove $70. The cheapest goalkeeper glove worn during the World Cup that can be bought in easily online or in your local soccer shop.  It has PUMA’s ultimate grip latex foam, a wrap-around wrist, and a flexible and breathable backhand.  It’s worn by Eiji Kawashima (Japan and Kawasaki Frontale), Diego Benaglio (Switzerland and VfL Wolfsburg), and Gianluigi Buffon (Italy and Juventes).

reusch Xosa Pro G1 Goalkeeper Glove – $80. This goalkeeper glove’s main specs are its ultrasoft palm, wide wrist strap, reusch’s trademarked pull loop system, and rolled thumb and flexible thumb. Reusch says that this glove is one of their most popular goalkeeper gloves which may make it slightly difficult to find online or in your local soccer shop.  It’s worn by Fernando Muslera (Uruguay and Lazio), Justo Villar (Paraguay and Real Valladolid), and Julio Cesar (Brazil and Inter Milan).  You may just see this glove during the World Cup’s final.  Stay tuned for a formal review on the reusch Xosa’s!

uhlsport Sudafrika Supersoft – $95. The glove has a dyed palm and uses uhlsport’s supersoft latex technology on the palm, making the glove extra sticky.  It’s worn by Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria and Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.), Hugo Lloris (France and Olympique Lyonnais), Itumeleng Khune (South Africa and Kaizer Chiefs), Pepe Reina (Spain and Liverpool), Samir Handanovic (Slovenia and Udinese), Faouzi Chaouchi (Algeria and ES Setif), Jan Mucha (Slovakia and Everton FC), and Barry Boubacar (Ivory Coast and Lokeren).

It’s a coincidence that all of these goalkeeper gloves are bit loud.  They’re not the traditional white palm and white backhand combo.  A job well done to PUMA, reusch, and uhlsport.  Soccer parents must be very happy to find affordable goalkeeper gloves worn by top-notch professionals.

#1, David James, England

Gloves – UMBRO Speciali Pro Goalkeeper Gloves want them in white?  Find them here.

Jersey- Sorry keepers – we can only find the authentic David James jersey
.

#23, Rais M Bolhi, Algeria

Gloves – HO Soccer goalkeeper gloves.

Jersey – we can’t find the exact model, but it’s a Puma short sleeve jersey.

#1, Tim Howard, USA - nike park iii long sleeve goalkeeper jersey

# 1, Samir Handanovic, Slovenia  - nike park iii long sleeve goalkeeper jersey