Three decades ago a rule returned the goal to a petty football. Colombian goalkeeper René ‘El loco’ Higuita, famous for his outings with the ball at the feetbelieves he has inspired this small revolution in the most popular sport in the world.
Just before the Barcelona Olympic Games-1992the FIFA regulated “the back pass”. Goalkeepers who subsequently receive a teammate’s service with their hands will be punished with an indirect free kick.
Strongly criticized by the goalkeepers of the time, who barely used their feet to kick the goal, the measure sought to revive the show after the lackluster World Cup in Italy-1990the lowest scoring average in history (2.2).
Los goalkeepers were the protagonists with his rigged practice of taking the ball with his hands to lose time.
With the rule, “the FIFA put an end to something that was horrible, in the 1990 World Cup almost all the teams played backwards to give the ball to the goalkeeper”, remembers in conversation the AFP the historian Luciano Wernicke.
Goalkeepers like the Argentine Sergio Goycocheathe Costa Rican Louis Gabelo or el Italian Walter Zengato name a few examples, “had the ball in their hands a lot of the time,” he adds Wernickeauthor of books on soccer curiosities.
Amidst the conservatism of the time, a goalkeeper with long curly hair and a multi-colored sweatshirt changed the paradigm. Rene Higuita played with Colombia that World Cup as a”libero goalkeeper“, who generated offensive play with his passes, and without fear of going out with the ball at his feet and dribbling to midfield.
“The Fool”, Featured Free kick and penalty kick takeris now convinced that the FIFA “was inspired” by his game to write the rule.
– “Higuita Law” –
From the arch of the Colombian team, Higuita was a sensation in that world Cupalthough he made a mistake in the round of 16 that ultimately cost the team elimination.
In a failed dribble he gave the ball to the Cameroonian roger milewho marked the doublet (2-1) with which he took the coffee growers out of the tournament.
thanks to the call in Colombia “Higuita Law“, soccer “is now much faster, (there is) more mobility, every day the goalkeeper has to work a little more with his feet to contribute to the team,” the Colombian told AFP.
Today’s goalkeeper coach National Athletic of Medellin he believes he was the person “who contributed to that change”.
“Soccer greats like Pele o Maradona“they were “very good players, but they have not changed a rule in the FIFA“, he releases with confidence during a video call.
Although the historian Wernicke clarifies: “It is not that the norm is changed by Higuitabut for all the other archers who were not like Higuita“.
The Colombian was “the only archer who did not speculate“with the loss of time, he adds.
– “Surprise” –
higuita smiles mischievously when remembering that during the first games with the norm “some” of his “clueless” colleagues “They returned the ball to them and they caught it with their hands.”
Contrary to the exporter, who started in soccer as a child being a field player and ended his career in 2008 with 43 goals, the goalkeepers were unfamiliar with the game outside their box.
Santiago Canizarezholder of Spain in the 1992 Olympicsrecently recalled the sensations in that first tournament where the instruction was applied:
“For us that was a surprise (…) We were not used to it, nor did we know that this could ever be a part of our lives,” he told Olimpics.com.
Others like the mythical goalkeeper of the Barcelona Andoni Zubizarreta They stated their opposition. The law “limits the goalkeeper”complained in 1992, according to statements collected by El País.
Despite its few devotees, with the norm the annotations increased. The United States World Cup-1994was the highest goal average (2.7) since 1970.
“That’s himto better norm that was changed in the last 40 years, it made football more dynamic,” says Wernicke.
Thirty years after the popular “Higuita Law“, the FIFA question again about the waste of time in a sport that loses fans.
Higuita gives the go-ahead to undergo new modifications in the regulation. “There’s a lot of talk about take a real time (of game) as in basketball and the idea is not a bad one, “says” El Loco “.
