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#8= Tim Howard, Simon Jentzsch, Stefano Sorrentino – 18 penalties saved
Of the three goalkeepers tied for 8th place with 18 penalties saved in the 21st century, only Tim Howard remains active at the professional level. Although at 41 years old, his time is probably limited now. He’s already come out of retirement once, having first hung up the gloves in 2019.
The most capped goalkeeper of all time for the United States, Howard first shot to fame when he joined Manchester United in 2003. He saved just one penalty for the Red Devils – from Fernando Meira in a 2003 Champions League game with Stuttgart. But he made 12 in action for Everton, who he joined in the 2006-07 campaign.
Italy’s Stefano Sorrentino made well over 300 Serie A appearances, largely for Chievo and Palermo between 2008 and 2018. During that period, he was renowned for his incredible reflexes and acrobatic abilities. 14 of his spot-kick saves came in Serie A action
This meant that along with the aforementioned Francesco Antonioli, he’s saved the joint 7th most penalties in the competition’s history.
Simon Jentzsch, meanwhile, spent the majority of his career in the Bundesliga. He played for 1860 Munich, Wolfsburg and Augsburg, and currently acts as Bayern Munich Youth’s goalkeeping coach.
Despite his solid record of 18 penalty saves in the 21st century though, you have to go back to 2006 – 3 years before his retirement – to find the last time he stopped a spot-kick in the Bundesliga. That save came from Werder Bremen’s Brazilian star Diego.
#7= Diego Lopez, Pepe Reina – 19 penalties saved
Two Spanish goalkeepers have saved 19 penalties in the 21st century – veterans Pepe Reina and Diego Lopez. Despite being 37 and 38 years old respectively, both men remain active at the highest level, with Reina completing the 2019-20 season at Aston Villa and Lopez at Espanyol.
Reina’s career began at Barcelona, but has taken him all over Europe, from Villarreal to Liverpool, Napoli to Bayern Munich, and finally Milan to Aston Villa. A three-time Premier League Golden Glove winner with Liverpool, the Spaniard gained a massive reputation as a penalty-saving expert. He famously stopped three in the Reds’ 2006 FA Cup final shoot-out victory against West Ham United.
Even at his advanced age, Reina was still able to show off his penalty saving reflexes in the 2019-20 campaign. October 2019 saw him save from Genoa’s Lasse Schone in a Serie A clash while representing Milan. In February, we saw him stop Son Heung-min’s spot-kick for Tottenham in just his third game for Aston Villa.
Lopez, meanwhile, made his name in La Liga with Villarreal, acting as their #1 for 5 seasons before moving to Sevilla, Real Madrid, Milan and eventually Espanyol. He’s spent the past 4 campaigns there as the first-choice keeper, and most recently stopped a spot-kick in July from Eibar’s Edu Exposito.
Other famed spot-kick takers he’s made saves from over the years include Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Ivan Rakitic, and Diego Forlan.
#6= Iker Casillas, Benoit Costil, Frank Rost – 20 penalties saved
Three different goalkeepers have saved 20 penalties this century, but one of those three clearly stands out above the other two in terms of his profile.
Former Real Madrid #1 Iker Casillas is widely recognised as one of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time. The winner of the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships with Spain, San Iker also won multiple trophies at club level, including 5 La Liga titles and 3 Champions Leagues.
One of the few players to appear in over 1000 professional matches, Casillas was highly regarded for his ability to produce spectacular saves. And so it should come as no surprise that he ranks highly on this list.
Through his career, he saved penalties from the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Sergei Rebrov. he also helped Spain to victory in numerous shoot-outs, including in their two victorious European Championship campaigns.
France’s Benoit Costil isn’t as well-recognised as Casillas, but Bordeaux’s current #1 has also saved 20 penalties in the current century. Before joining Bordeaux, the 33-year old appeared in more than 200 matches for Rennes, most of which came in Ligue 1.
The 2017-18 season was Costil’s most successful as a penalty saver. That campaign saw him stop 5 penalties – as many as he also conceded in the same season.
Frank Rost, meanwhile, retired back in 2011, meaning he was able to make his 20 penalty saves in just over a decade. Plying his trade in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen, Schalke and Hamburg, Rost had already marked himself out as a penalty expert in the 1990’s.
The 1998-99 DFB-Pokal final saw him act as the hero in Werder’s eventual penalty shoot-out with Bayern Munich. Rost scored his side’s 6th penalty and then saved from the legendary Lothar Matthaus to win the game.
In the 21st century, meanwhile, he saved penalties from the likes of Jan Koller, Dimitar Berbatov – as well as fellow goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt.
