Are preconceptions about women goalkeepers out of date?In the second of his daily blogs, John Ashdown speaks to England No1 Karen Bardsley who says that criticism of women's keepers isn't always fair
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Karen Bardsley: 'Look at the World Cup last year. Those weren't the best performances from the goalkeepers.' Photograph: Alex Livesey/Fifa via Getty Images
We need to talk about keepers. It's fair to suggest that if you asked the average football fan for a defining characteristic of the women's game, he or she would plump for what has become a well-worn cliche: the weakness between the posts. But, argues England's No1 Karen Bardsley, that criticism is not always fair.
"There was one instance in particular," she says. "2009. England v Russia. We went 2-0 down and we did really well to come back and win 3-2 to move into the next round. Kelly Smith had picked the ball up in midfield, looked up, hit the ball and it just sailed over the keeper's head. It was a fantastic goal, but people were saying: 'The goalkeeper's out of position, they really messed that one up.' But give the girl credit – she's just lobbed the player from the middle of the field.
"So that's sort of irritating, where you blame the keeper and don't give credit where it's due. Lots of criticism has been placed on keepers in the women's game, but you have to look at the men's game as well. Look at the World Cup last year. Those weren't the best performances from the goalkeepers. So it goes both ways and it just depends on what people are familiar with and what their preconceptions are, and their biases. We just trying to do our best – it's easy to be a critic isn't it?"
Take Sunday's game in Berlin: Canada's Erin McLeod was culpable for Germany's first, utterly out of position as Kerstin Garefrekes nodded her side in front. But the cross was as inviting as a bath of warm cream on a cold day and the German striker's miss in the second half was the greatest gaffe of the game. In the end both were overshadowed by Christine Sinclair's sumptuous second-half free-kick anyway. More of that and there'll be no need to talk about keepers. But in all likelihood the No1's will be in the spotlight throughout the tournament. It would be nice if they could go some way to killing the cliche.
This tournament will be Bardsley's first as England's No1, having been back-up to Rachel Brown at Euro 2009. "I was out of the squad for some time and I came back into it and it seemed very, very quick for me, at least. There was one or two camps and before I knew it we were in Finland," she says. "That was really kind of cool, it was nice not to have to go through the whole three- or four-year buildup. It was cool just to get into it. This is a global stage now and obviously the pressures are similar but this is just the best thing you can hope for as a footballer."
Like the rest of the squad, the goalkeeper is chomping at the bit to get out on to the pitch at the Volkswagen Arena on Monday evening. "I'm nervous in a good way. It's more of an eagerness. The nerves side is: 'OK let's get things going.' Once the whistle goes we'll be able to relax a bit more. It's always the buildup that seems to get the butterflies going in the stomach. It's a good nervousness. I'm not having restless nights." There is something incredibly reassuring about the England stopper. Bardsley was born and raised in California, although her family are from Stockport. A goalkeeper with an American accent? That has to be a good thing.
Talking points• "Homosexuality is a dirty thing, spiritually and morally it is very, very wrong." Nigeria coach Eucharia Uche's astonishing outburst quoted in Bild on the eve of the tournament certainly overshadowed the Super Falcons' preparations for the tournament. Fifa's feeble response to Uche's attitude – the Nigeria coach has also been accused of omitting players from her squad because of their sexuality – has prompted a strong response from the Justin Campaign, who are leading the fight against homophobia in football:
"So far, Fifa's response has been extremely tepid, with a promise to 'talk to her' the sum total of their actions.
This appallingly poor response from the football world's governing body highlights how far down on their list of priorities homophobia seems to be. If the manager of a team competing in the 2011 finals had spoken of the problem of black players in their team, Fifa would no doubt (and obviously rightly so) have acted with the kind of authority and decisiveness necessary. However, the rights of the LGBT community continue to be viewed as less important.
Until the likes of Fifa finally start to deal with the issue of homophobia within the game (and arguably within its own corridors of power), football will continue to be riddled with this vile and needless bigotry.
Hopefully an unintended consequence of Uche's abhorrent comments will be to bring the battle against homophobia closer to the top of Fifa's agenda.
• Uche's side got off to a disappointing start on Sunday, falling to a 1-0 defeat to France in the opening game in Sinsheim. It looks likely to be a shoot-out between Les Bleues and Canada for the runners-up spot in Group A.
_________________ "It felt like a really pointless version of ketamine: no psychedelic effects, no pleasant slide into rubbery nonsense, just a sudden drop off the cliff of wrongness." "i'm gonna wreck you so bad we're going to have to change church"
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