From scoring penalties to comedic distraction techniques, goalkeepers have provided the drama and been a key part of the tournament so far. In a tournament that has already seen 17 penalty shootouts, there is set to be more goal line drama as the stakes are raised in the knockout stages of the tournament.
Above all, there are two enigmatic goalkeepers who’ll be decisive for their sides and will be forces of nature to follow during the round of 16. Let’s start with Tigres shot-stopper Nahuel Guzmán:
During Tigres’ penalty shootout with Vancouver in the Round of 16, the iconic Tigres goalkeeper tried some underhand distraction techniques to get the mental edge over the MLS side. He had promised surprises in response to the new rules for goalkeepers in penalty shootouts, and he sure delivered.
"I have some surprises for the tournament. Hopefully, they won't start penalising us, so you can see what I'm going to do. Our resources to gain an advantage over penalty takers are running out," the 'Patón' (Nahuel Guzmán's nickname) said during a press conference on July 13.
Last Friday Guzmán showed off his skills as a mimer and a magician - whilst the first didn’t faze the Vancouver penalty taker, the latter saw him save Ranko Veselinović’s penalty.
Toluca’s goal-scoring Brazilian between the sticks is as dangerous in dispatching penalties as he is in saving them. Against Nashville, Tiago Volpi stole the spotlight by calmly slotting past his opposite number, Elliot Panicco, as Toluca took the lead. The Brazilian had just scored his third goal for the club, and his third this season. In fact, it is the former Querétaro stopper's third goal in three successive games - making him his side's top-scorer in the process.
