The Seattle Sounders battled to a 1-1 draw with rival Portland Timbers last month at CenturyLink Field. One of the key moments of the match came in the opening seconds, when goalkeeper Stefan Frei made an incredible save. Let’s take a closer look at how this shot was stopped.
Just one minute into the match, Frei was forced into a full-extension save off a powerful shot from Timbers Designated Player Sebastian Blanco. After a quick pump-fake, the Argentine attacker curled a shot with plenty of venom towards the near-post top corner. Despite having three bodies in his way, Frei managed to get across quickly and parry the shot safely over the crossbar.
What initially catches the eye is the way that Frei hurls himself toward the shot and, exhibiting explosive athleticism and body control, gets a strong paw on the ball to push the effort over the bar. But what really makes this a world-class save are the more intricate, technical elements in the build-up to the save.
Let’s start with his positioning. As Blanco cuts inside onto his favored right foot, his path to goal is impeded by Kelvin Leerdam’s intelligent decision to close down the space and deny an open shot. Roman Torres, seemingly aware that Blanco could slip a pass to the feet of Darren Mattocks, stations himself at the edge of the box, equidistant to the shooter and the man he’s marking, so he can either block Blanco’s shot or quickly close down Mattocks if he receives the ball.
Frei’s positioning on this play is brilliant. Technically speaking, if there were no defenders obscuring his vision, Frei might be one-step over to his right, effectively minimizing the possibility of conceding a goal at his near post. But with Leerdam and Torres positioned to deny any driven shots to the near post, Frei stations himself where he can have a clear view of Blanco’s effort. If he’s one step over to his left, which would give him a better chance of saving a shot to the far post, he’d have conceded too much space at the near-post, and Portland would be 1-0 inside the first minute. But if he’s too far to the right, he either gets caught out at the far-post or has his view of the play screened, which would lead to a late reaction and a goal or a dangerous rebound.
It’s also worth noting that Frei doesn’t bite on Blanco’s initial pump fake. There’s an old adage in goalkeeping that goes “Anticipate mentally, react physically.” Had Frei started moved either left or right in response to the Argentine’s feigned shot attempt, he would have been stranded and unable to recover. But because he anticipates the shot to the near-post, holding off his movement until it’s actually taken, he’s able to react quickly and come up with a crucial save.
As you can see in this picture, Frei’s positioning enables him to see the entire attacking sequence develop, allowing him to exhibit his excellent footwork to get across and save. The ball is travelling so fast from such a short distance away that if he sees the effort late, the shot would have already travelled half the distance to the goal at top speed and Frei would have been picking the ball out of the back of the net. He also exhibits excellent discipline to not fully commit to a dive early on, because had the shot deflected off Torres, it would have sailed past Frei, leaving him no chance of making a stop.
From the reverse angle, you can clearly see that as soon as the ball leaves Blanco’s foot, Frei takes two quick, lateral steps to get across goal, establishing the momentum necessary to take flight and push the shot over the bar. The first step closes down space, and the second prepares him for takeoff. Notice how he maintains his crouched, athletic stance as he moves along the goal line. This enables him to generate enough power on his dive to not only reach the shot, but to have enough physical force to redirect the flight of the ball over the goal. If he doesn’t get those two steps in, he either never reaches the shot or he doesn’t get enough power behind the save.
Simply put, Frei’s footwork is the difference between Blanco’s shot being a Goal of the Week contender to a Save of the Week nominee.
The final aspect of this save worth noting is Frei’s decision to save with his right hand as opposed to going for a more traditional top-hand stop. When a shot is traveling toward the right-hand top corner, goalkeepers are taught to plant with their right foot, raise their left leg for momentum, and bring across their left hand to tip the ball over mid-flight. But because Frei’s footwork is so excellent, he doesn’t need to be fully air-born to make the save. In fact, had he gone with his top-hand, there’s a chance he wouldn’t have had enough force to push the ball over the goal.
The forward angle, as he makes contact with the shot, clearly shows that Frei’s plant foot is still on the ground as his hand meets the ball. Everything he does in the build-up to the moment where he makes contact is correct: quick feet, an explosive stance, and attacking the ball at a forward angle. By using his right hand, Frei is able to contort his body in the air and tip the ball over the goal. Had he gone with his top-hand, his timing would have been off and he either concedes a goal or gives up a rebound inside the six-yard box for Mattocks to tap into an empty net. And because he uses his right hand, he's able to attack the ball with an upward trajectory, which completely changes the flight of the shot from spinning downward to sailing over.
As has become the norm for Frei under the stewardship of Sounders FC’s Club Director of Goalkeeping Tom Dutra, this save was a masterclass in the finer points of goalkeeping and should be shown to every young shot-stopper with aspirations of playing at the professional level.
