Top 4 iconic goalkeepers of the 21st century

Manuel Neuer

Manuel Neuer is relatively young for a goalkeeper. He is 32 and could easily have eight to ten years still left in his tank. But that has not stopped the German goalkeeper from winning titles and achieving countless laurels all around the world for his goalkeeping.

He came through the Schalke youth academy and went on to represent the senior team from 2006 until 2011. While he did not earn global recognition until then, he certainly caught the eye of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

Neuer left Schalke for Munich on a free transfer, much to the ire of his old club. To make things a bit more challenging for Neuer, the Bayern fans were also not happy that a rival player was playing in their team. But Neuer was not one to bow down. He steadily brought the fans onto his side with his performances, and soon everyone realized that Bayern had a world-class goalkeeper in their hands.

Neuer lifted the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany

Neuer made his debut for Germany in 2009 and lifted the World Cup in 2014. He has remained the undisputed goalkeeper till now, and like Iker Casillas, has kept other talented German goalkeepers at bay because of his performances.

But Neuer is different from the likes of Buffon and Casillas due to his goalkeeping style. He is described by many as a modern goalkeeper. This style of goalkeeping not only involves being good with your hands but also with your feet.

You have to be able to start moves from the back and find your teammates regularly with precision. And Neuer is the gold standard of this kind of style of goalkeeping.

Neuer's sweeper-keeper style has revolutionized goalkeeping

Neuer's trademark style of rushing into attackers to clear the ball earned him the title of "sweeper-keeper". Even though he was not the first one to do it, he performed it with a consistency not seen before in the game. He became the 11th outfield player, and his teammates were able to trust him enough to keep passing the ball back to him and involving him in the play.

While Neuer always had this kind of goalkeeping style, he perfected it under Pep Guardiola's reign at Allianz Arena. Guardiola's philosophy of keeping the possession of the ball meant that Neuer was usually the start of an attack.

The success Neuer found with this kind of play led to many goalkeepers trying to copy him. While some have succeeded, many have not. Coaches are also demanding that their goalkeepers be more the "sweeper-keeper" than staying with the traditional style.

While Neuer has won plenty of titles in his time, it is his unique style of play and the subsequent effect it has had on goalkeeping that earns him the right to be called one of the most influential goalkeepers of this century.