Johannesburg - Who’d want to be a goalkeeper? There’s simply no room for error. It doesn’t matter how well you’ve served the team, it doesn’t matter how well you perform over 90 minutes … make one mistake and it’s pounced upon. It’s in the spotlight and all your great exploits of the past are forgotten.
Strikers squander scoring opportunities, midfielders lose their markers and defenders miss tackles, but that’s tolerated. A goalkeeper blunders and it’s the end of the world. Welcome to the esoteric world of goalkeeping.
Ajax Cape Town No 1 Anssi Jaakkola was cruelly introduced to this aspect of his chosen profession when his howler allowed Orlando Pirates to take a 1-0 lead in a PSL fixture at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Wednesday, with the Buccaneers going on to win 2-1.
“I guess there’s not much to say,” said the 28-year-old Finn. “It was just one of those things. I was aware that the grass was a bit soft inside the penalty area. In fact, we had a discussion about the surface before the game. And, unfortunately, that’s what happened … Rivaldo (Coetzee) played in the back pass, I was expecting the ball to bounce a little higher, but it just died flat on me, went under my feet, and rolled into the goals.”
Jaakkola, who has played in his home country Finland, as well as in Italy, Scotland and the Czech Republic, says there’s nothing a keeper can do but go on and hope to redeem himself. And he has an opportunity to do so when Ajax take on SuperSport United in a PSL fixture in Atteridgeville tomorrow (kick-off 3.30pm).
“Obviously, you have to live with the mistake (but) it’ll take a few days to get over it, though,” said Jaakkola. “You constantly take your mind through the situation but, at the end of it all, you have put it behind you and move on.
“You have to try to bounce back quickly, play well in the next game and redeem yourself.”
Jaakkola, like everybody else at Ajax, is concerned with the inconsistency of the team, while at the same time, he is also attending to what he sees as the inconsistency in his own performances this season.
“It has been an unstable season,” he said. “There have been many ups and downs. We started on a high note, winning the MTN8, but circumstances (including the death of right back Cecil Lolo) took away the momentum of the team. We had a bit of a bad patch and couldn’t find our form.
“The stop-start nature of the PSL also didn’t help, in that it’s hard to get back to form when you aren’t playing regularly. And now, even with the league resuming last month, we still haven’t been able to get to our best level.
“For me personally, like the team, I have also had good games and bad games ... I’ve also had good moments and bad moments during games. It has been disappointing and I think there have been a few situations where I’ve let the team and the fans down. But, hopefully, we are now over our bad patch and we can go on and finish the season off on a high note, and I can start to play the football I know I can.”
As for SuperSport, Jaakkola is expecting a really tough encounter tomorrow, especially with Stuart Baxter now in charge of the club. The irony, of course, being that before Jaakkola signed for Ajax in 2013, it was Baxter he turned to for advice before making his decision to come to the Mother City.
The former Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs coach had a spell in charge of Finland and, in 2010, he included Jaakkola in his squad for a European Championship qualifier.
“SuperSport will be tough and it’s another away game,” the Ajax gloveman said. “We haven’t done too well on the road and SuperSport are a good team with some really good players. Stuart Baxter is there now and they will be full of energy to put on their best show for the new coach.
“But we just have to play as we know we can … we have to be relaxed, keep it professional, and forget about the last game. We have to move on and approach this as another opportunity to regain our form.”
Fixtures
Saturday: Golden Arrows v Wits, Black Aces v Bloem Celtic; Kaizer Chiefs v Maritzburg Utd, University of Pretoria v Orlando Pirates, Chippa United v Jomo Cosmos.
Sunday: SuperSport United v Ajax Cape Town (Atteridgeville, 3.30pm), Free State Stars v Mamelodi Sundowns, Platinum Stars v Polokwane City.
Weekend Argus