2010 World Cup Goalkeepers - By The Numbers: Age & Experience

22
The age of the youngest starting goalkeeper in the 2010 World Cup.  South Africa's Khune Itumeleng is 22 years old.   Itumeleng has 26 caps under his belt, more than Sergio Romero (Argentina), Hugo Lloris (France), and Fernando Muslera (Uruguay) combined.   Romero, Lloris, and Muslera are all 23 years old and have combined for a total of 22 international appearances.

39
David James (England) is the oldest projected starter at 39 years old.   Unfortunately, James may not get to start in the 2010 World Cup as a minor knee injury has sidelined the Portsmouth keeper.  This may force Fabio Capello to place the 30 year old Robert Green between the sticks.   Green has only 10 international appearances while James has recorded 50 international appearances.  England players reportedly want manager Fabio Capello to name David James as his first choice goalkeeper during the 2010 World Cup.

130
South Korea's Lee Woon-Jae is the most capped goalkeeper starting in the 2010 World Cup.  The 37 year old Woon-Jae has accumulated 130 caps since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.    Lee will be one of two players (other being Rigobert Song of Cameroon) to be part of a 2010 World Cup squad that also played in 1994 World Cup.

5

The German squad had always had a history of carrying experienced goalkeepers into the World Cup (Schumacher, Kahn, Meier).  2010 will be different as the 24 year old Manuel Neuer, with only 5 senior international appearances, will assume the starting goalkeeping role for a program that has finished 4th place or better in 11 of 16 World Cups (Germany was banned from 1950 and withdrew from 1930).  

Neuer's 5 caps may be the least of the starting World Cup goalkeepers, but he is the most capped GK on the German squad over Hans-Jörg Butt (3), and Tim Wiese (2).  

The probable choice as the German No. 1 prior to 2010, Robert Enke, committed suicide in 2009 while battling depression.

Roster of Projected Starting Goalkeepers for 2010 World Cup

With the first game of the World Cup just days away, GKGrades.com has compiled a list of probable starting goalkeepers for each of the participating countries.

There are still a few starting jobs in limbo...

• Mexico has yet to make a decision between the young Ochoa and veteran Sanchez.... 
• England may move to favor Robert Green if David James cannot begin to practice with his tweaked knee...
• The Ghana skipper has not yet proclaimed Kingson as the definitive No. 1 after a few disappointing warm-up friendlies...

Click on the GK name for a full profile...

Country	No.	Goalkeeper	Age	Caps
Algeria	1	Lounes Gaouaoui	32	48
Argentina	22	Sergio Romero	23	6
Australia	1	Mark Schwarzer	37	74
Brazil	12	Julio Cesar	30	48
Cameroon	1	Carlos Kameni	26	55
Chile	1	Caudio Bravo	27	43
Denmark	1	Thomas Sorensen	33	86
England	1	David James	39	50
France	1	Hugo Lloris	23	10
Germany	1	Manuel Neuer	24	5
Ghana	22	Richard Kingson	31	78
Greece	1	Konstantinos Chalkias	36	26
Honduras	18	Noel Valladares	33	72
Italy	1	Gianluigi Buffon	32	101
Ivory.Coast	1	Boubacar Barry	30	45
Japan	1	Seigo Narazaki	34	76
Mexico	13	Guillermo Ochoa	24	37
Netherlands	1	Maarten Stekelenburg	27	27
New.Zealand	1	Mark Paston	33	23
Nigeria	1	Vincent Enyeama	27	54
North.Korea	1	Ri Myong-Guk	23	33
Paraguay	1	Justo Villar	32	73
Portugal	1	Eduardo	27	14
Serbia	1	Vladimir Stojkovic	26	33
Slovakia	1	Jan Mucha	27	15
Slovenia	22	Samir Handanovic	25	38
S.Africa	16	Khune Itumeleng	22	26
S.Korea	1	Lee Woon-Jae	37	130
Spain	1	Iker Casillas	29	103
Switzerland	1	Diego Benaglio	26	27
Uruguay	1	Fernando Muslera	23	6
USA	1	Tim Howard	31	50

World Cup GK Profile: Diego Benaglio (Switzerland)

Diego Benaglio

Squad: Switzerland
Squad No: 1
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 26
Birth Date: Sep 8, 1983
Birth Place: Zurich, Switzerland
Height: 6' 4" (1.93m)
Weight: 183 lbs (83 kg)
Club: Wolfsburg (GER)
International Caps: 27

Club History
Wolfsburg (GER): 2008-
CD Nacional (POR): 2005-2008
VfB Stuttgart (GER): 2002-2005
Grasshoppers (SUI): 2000-2002



from Wikipedia (full wiki)
A Swiss international since 2006, Benaglio was called-up for the 2006 World Cup as third-choice behind Pascal Zuberbühler and Fabio Coltorti.

With consistently good performances in 2008, he was promoted to the starting line-up for Euro 2008, played on home soil. He has since retained his position as Switzerland's number 1 goalkeeper.

World Cup GK Profile: Iker Casillas (Spain)

Iker Casillas

Squad: Spain
Squad No: 1
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 29
Birth Date: May 20, 1981
Birth Place: Mostoles, Spain
Height: 6' 1'' (1.85m)
Weight: 187 lbs (85 kg)
Club: Real Madrid (Spain)
International Caps: 103

Club History
Real Madrid (ESP): 2000-
Real Madrid B (ESP): 1999-1999
Real Madrid (ESP): 1999-1999
Real Madrid C (ESP): 1998-1999
Real Madrid (ESP): 1997-1998



from Wikipedia (full wiki)
Iker Casillas Fernández Spanish pronunciation: ['iker ka'si?as]; is a Spanish football goalkeeper who plays for the Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and serves as captain for the Spanish national team. He is currently first-choice goalkeeper for both club and country and serves as a vice captain for his club. As captain of the national side, he led a young Spanish team to their first European Championship in 44 years, his first senior international honour.

Since bursting onto the scene as a teenager, Casillas has been recognised as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, illustrated by the many awards he has received. He was ranked 4th in the 2008 European Footballer of the Year voting, and also the highest ranked goalkeeper in 2009. At the end of 2009 he was voted into the UEFA Team of the Year for the third consecutive time.

World Cup GK Profile: Noel Valladares (Honduras)

Noel Valladares

Squad: Honduras
Squad No: 18
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 33
Birth Date: May 3, 1977
Birth Place: Comayagua, Honduras
Height: 5' 10" (1.79m)
Weight: 176 lbs (80 kg)
Club: Olimpia Tegucigalpa (HON)
International Caps: 72

Club History
Olimpia Tegucigalpa (HON): 2004-
Motagua (HON): 1996-2004



from Wikipedia (full wiki)

Noel Eduardo Valladares Bonilla is a Honduran football goalkeeper, who currently plays for Club Deportivo Olimpia. He was born in Comayagua.

He was a member of the national squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Prior to that experience he played as goalkeeper and forward for Honduras at the 1999 PanAmerican games in Winnipeg. He played as a striker for several seasons at Motagua.

He is very important to the Honduran national squad. He has made 70 appearances for the team and will participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals.

World Cup GK Profile: Claudio Bravo (Chile)

Claudio Bravo

Squad: Chile
Squad No: 1
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 27
Birth Date: Apr 13, 1983
Birth Place: Viluco, Chile
Height: 6' 0" (1.83m)
Weight: 185 lbs (84 kg)
Club: Real Sociedad (Spain)
International Caps: 43

Club History
Real Sociedad (ESP): 2006-
Colo Colo (CHI): From 2002 to 2006



from Wikipedia (full wiki)
Bravo represented Chile at U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels. He made his debut with the main side on July 11, 2004 against Paraguay, in the 2004 Copa América, and retained his place for the rest of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers.

Bravo was again called for duty in the 2007 Copa América, held in Venezuela, where he started all four games. He became national side captain after Marcelo Salas announced his international retirement.

World Cup GK Profile: Eduardo (Portugal)

Eduardo

Full Name: Eduardo dos Reis Carvalho
Squad: Portugal
Squad No: 1
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 27
Birth Date: Sep 19, 1982
Birth Place: Mirandela, Portugal
Height: 6' 2" (1.87m)
Weight: 185 lbs (84 kg)
Club: Braga (POR)
International Caps: 14

Club History
Braga (POR): 2008-
Vitória Setúbal (POR): 2007-2008
SC Beira-Mar (POR): 2007-2007
Sporting Braga (POR): 2003-2006



from Wikipedia (full wiki)
After UEFA Euro 2008, Eduardo was called for new national team coach Carlos Queiroz for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Denmark, where he played understudy to Quim.

He made his full debut on 11 February 2009, in a friendly match with Finland, playing the first 60 minutes in a 1–0 home win, and remained the starter throughout the remainder of the qualifying campaign.