A Goalkeeper’s Historical Mistake…and His Resilience

Goalies make their fair share of mistakes, all there with visual proof, for everyone to see. But no goalie has made a mistake like the one made by the Greek goalkeeper in their game against the United States. 

If you saw the final 3 seconds of the first quarter of the USA v. Greece Olympic game (now available on NBC on-demand) then you witnessed a failure by the Greek goalie, Emmanouil Zerdevas, of “historic proportions” according to expert commentator, Tony Azevedo. And I agree. We’ve never seen anything like this at this level. Zerdevas was scored on full court by the opposing United States goalie when he was in position and knew the shot was coming. In the Olympic Games, no less.

But…that’s not what is so noteworthy. The next 5 minutes are considerably more important. Instead of feeling dejected and focusing on this colossal error, the two-time Olympian Zerdevas immediately makes an outstanding high corner save on a shot that beat the shot blocker (this truly is an amazing save, regardless of the circumstances mentioned here). Zerdevas then goes on to make four more superlative saves on the next four consecutive close-range shots. 

Azevedo here refers to goalies needing to be like goldfish: To have a short-term memory and bounce back from goals allowed. The Positive Coaching Alliance uses the term “flush”—to flush the mistake and move on. If you re-watch the initial error, pay attention to Zerdevas’ reaction. Nothing. He doesn’t punch the water in frustration, nor yell an expletive. On to the next shot(s)…and now we know how that goes.

Because all goalies, all athletes, will make real mistakes in games to come, though likely not a mistake as impactful as the one Zerdevas made: In a 1-goal game at the Olympic Games, during an important first round contest, in front of thousands of viewers. And he bounced back, taking his team on his shoulders, getting them a 2-goal lead following this historical error, as his team then goes on to win by just that same 2-goal margin.

The mistake doesn’t define the goalie: It’s how the goalie bounces back after the inevitable mistake that’s most important. 

 -Jack Bowen