The man between the sticksBy Raymond Olgado
Published: Mar/08/2013 6:02 PM PHT
When he first came to the Philippines, he was surprised that the clubs in the domestic league did not have goalkeeper coaches.
“Unfortunately in this country, I cannot see a lot of goalkeeper coaches. It pains me to see that the goalkeeper have no individual coaches,” shared the 6-5 Swiss coach to the media during the AFC Challenge Cup Press Conference.
In an interview with Solar Sports Desk, he elaborated, “a keeper needs to practice individually with a goalkeeper coach, you need to teach him and this is very important. Timing, positioning, diving.”
Meet Pascal Zuberbühler, the Azkals’ resident goalkeeper coach. Or you can just call him Coach Zubi.
Coach Zubi is a former Swiss international that had 51 caps for his national team as the man between the sticks, his tour of duty includes the Euros (2004, 2008) and the World Cup (2006).
The 2006 World Cup Swiss team is remembered as the only team that never conceded a goal in normal time, losing only to Ukraine in the round of 16 in a penalty shootout, 3-0. Thus, giving him the record for the least conceded goal in the World Cup with 0.
“It’s fantastic. It’s beautiful,” describing the feeling of playing on football’s biggest stage.
“When you come in the stadium and hear the fans singing, then the national anthem is played... It’s unbelievable.”
Obviously, he would not be called up for the national team if he did not do well in club football. He started playing football with the youth team of FC Frauenfeld and transferred to the senior team of Grasshoppers Club Zurich where he had 187 appearances from 1991 to 1999.
He helped GCZ win the Swiss Super League thrice and the Swiss Cup trophy once. GCZ played in the Champions League in 1995 and 1996, being the first Swiss team to play against Europe’s best clubs. FC Basel acquired his services in 1999 – for an undisclosed fee – and helped the club to win the League three times and the Swiss Cup twice.
His secret in being successful in club football?
“The most important thing you are doing when you are in the club – and this for me is the key point, even if you are a keeper or a player, in the club here or a league elsewhere – you need to improve more… because this is your daily work. And in your daily work, you’re learning, everyday you are training.”
“I’ve played a lot of games in the Champions League. The Champions League is also something special,” Coach Zubi answered when he was quizzed about his first hand experience in the UCL.
“If you come in for the Champions League, it’s always the same music. It is unbelievable. It still gives me goose bumps. The crowd is great. The atmosphere in the stadium is fantastic.”
Celtic Park, according to him, is one of the loudest. “You can shout at a teammate who is two yards away and he will not hear you.” He tells us that the 1-1 draw against Liverpool in Anfield was one of his best games.
He is proud to have played all the best clubs and played in the best stadium of Europe except one.
“There is only one game, one team, and stadium I missed. It was Barcelona,” Coach Zubi shares. “This is the only thing that I am missing.”
How did he end up in the Azkals’ coaching staff?
We have to thank our current goalkeeper, Neil Etheridge, for that. Zuberbuhler has been Etheridge’s teammate in Fulham and is regarded by Neil as “more of a father figure guiding me”.
On seeing the Filipino goalkeepers play, Coach Zubi recognizes that the Azkals have a lot of potentially good keepers.
“You’ve got Neil (Etheridge), Roland Muller, and then Ed Sacapano. You’ve got Ref (Cuaresma). You’ve got Patrick (Deyto). You’ve got many, many goalkeepers that have potential.”
But he stresses that “the potential is one thing, the other thing is to show this potential on the pitch”.
Not all Filipinos are genetically gifted with height and Coach Zubi tells the advantages of being a small keeper.
“The shorter ones have an advantage also because they are very quick on the floor and most of all, the shorter guys have more power to jump. They need a good power in the legs to jump, to go up.”
Height is not that much a factor for him in being a goalkeeper, but personality is what makes a keeper a good one.
“You know, you don’t need to be tall. For example, Ed (Sacapaño) is small but he has good body language. He knows exactly when he has to support, when he has to stay. This is what is fantastic with him. For me, he’ll always be an example.”
He expects to be in the country until the end of March and hopefully give goalkeeping seminars to coaches and players in the local league.
And his advice on why one should be a goalkeeper: “This is the nicest job ever. You always have to improve… you always have to grow up.”
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