Legend has it that when W G Grace was bowled for zero during an exhibition cricket match, the “Father of cricket”, peeved at his dismissal, picked up the bails and placed them back on the stumps. “They came here to see me bat not to watch you bowl,” he nonchalantly admonished the dazed bowler.
On Tuesday during the FIFA World Cup match between Brazil and Mexico, all eyes were on Neymar, who had dyed his hair blond for the match in anticipation of another dazzling performance. Having whetted his fans’ appetite with two goals in the tournament opener against Croatia, the stage was set for him yet again to shine against Mexico, a team who have often proved a thorn in the side for the five-time World champions.
But the 22-year-old, who is tipped for greatness by pundits, hadn’t reckoned for Guillermo Ochoa. The Mexican produced one of the greatest-ever performances by a goalkeeper in a World Cup with a series of stunning saves to leave the vaunted Brazilian attack frustrated and bereft of ideas.
Ochoa was a veritable wall in the Mexican goal. While he was solid against Cameroon earlier in the week, he was simply outstanding against Brazil, pulling off vital saves against Neymar and Thiago Silva and thereby etching his name in football folklore. Goalkeeping is not for the faint-hearted, and the fact that some of his saves were affected from point blank range brought to the fore his absolute fearlessness when confronting hostile situations.
“Without doubt, it was the game of my life. I have had a few similar matches but nothing really to compare with this. To play like this in a World Cup, against the hosts, is not easy, and I am very happy,” said the 28-year-old keeper from French club Ajaccio.
What makes Ochoa’s story even more interesting is that he was only confirmed as Mexico’s first choice goalkeeper by coach Miguel Herrera just three days before his debut against Cameroon. His displays in the two games have completely vindicated Herrera’s decision.
Goalkeeping is not just about gravity-defying dives. It has also got a lot to do with anticipation and positioning, as Ochoa demonstrated amply on Tuesday.
His display also took the focus away from the forwards who have held sway in the World Cup so far with some dazzling goals, something rare for a goalkeeper.
Like cricket fans who go to matches to watch great batting, football fans, too, pack stadiums to witness the magic of forwards weaving their way past defences and scoring stunning goals that often define entire tournaments.
But occasionally there comes a player like Ochoa who manages to steal the limelight from them, as Neymar and his teammates found out, much to their annoyance and exasperation.
Mexico are now on level terms with Brazil after two matches, and if they advance deeper into the tournament you can be sure there would be hundreds of millions of fans all over the world cheering Ochoa, egging him on to produce a few more of those mindboggling saves. It is something that would give his thankless job its due in a sport where the popularity stakes are lopsidedly loaded in favour of the goal-scorers rather than the goal-savers.