Cape Verde's goalkeeper Vozinha celebrates with his national flag at the end of their World Cup match against Spain.
Albert Samaha
The shots came fast and furiously, 19 in total, a desperate barrage from the boots of soccer royalty. But in the end, the story last Tuesday was familiar to the legions lapping up this World Cup: another unknown goalkeeper had anchored another defensive masterpiece against a soccer Goliath.
When the final whistle blew, the keeper, 33-year-old Benjamin Asare of Ghana, fell to his knees and pointed to the heavens, while England’s goal-scoring savant, Harry Kane, seemed to barter with the referee for more time. Surely he could score once.
The sport’s most famous names - Kane, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo - have awed crowds and filled highlight reels, scoring 17 goals in nine games collectively, exceeding even their own dominant standards. But the most dramatic outcomes have instead come from the meaty hands of lesser known players trying to prevent the scoring: once-anonymous goalkeepers, all grizzled journeymen, leading surprise success stories and rising to newfound fame along the way.
