By Danny Carvalho,
When thinking about a fast and direct counterattack starting from the GK I believe the first play that will always come across my mind is the third Belgium’s goal against Japan in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The game was even at 2-2 with only a few minutes before full time and a very likely extra time at that point. But then a Japanese corner kick ended at Cortouis’ hands. The rest is history…
So here goes a GK session to work on shot stopping followed by quick distribution.
Warm Up
GKs are going to be working in pairs. Start five to ten steps apart depending on the level and age group.
1- Two hands chest throw (10 times)
2- One-handed side shoulder throw (10 times each arm)
3- One-handed over shoulder throw (10 times each arm)
4- Short passing back and forth (10 times each foot)
5- Long passing back and forth (6 times each foot)
Activity 1
Coach on the edge of the box takes a shot. Keeper is going to grab the ball, perform a SAQ of the coach’s choice on the circuit and then throw the ball in the mini-goal.
Activity 2
Activity 2 will work as a progression of activity 1. Now we take the SAQ circuit off the way and then after the shot, the shooter runs to block one of the mini-goals to make the GK find the open mini-goal as fast as possible.
Activity 3
Now work on realistic game scenarios such as the 3v3 shown at the diagram below. Rotate the GKs in goal and have the others be field players. Corner kicks, free kicks, crossing etc.
By Danny Carvalho, DOC at Corinthians Campinas Youth Club, Brasil
