Former Brazil international Julio Cesar has claimed that Liverpool’s Alisson Becker is one of the top three goalkeepers in the world.
Alisson has recently suffered disappointment with Brazil at this year’s World Cup. The Selecao were favourites to win the trophy but crashed out to Croatia in the quarter-finals instead. But, speaking to Globo Esporte, Cesar still backed the Liverpool goalie.
“I think that, as a whole, Alisson had a nice World Cup,” said the former Inter ‘keeper. “In the first two games he wasn’t tested much, there were almost no shots on goal, in the third game Ederson came in and against Korea he [Alisson] had a great game.
“The saves against Korea only showed why he was wearing the number one shirt for the national team, why he is Tite’s number one. No one had any doubts as to why he was starting.
“Against Croatia, he had few participations during the game: a single shot on goal, a deflected ball and Alisson was unable to save. I think because he’s out of the game, that’s bad for a goalkeeper.
“Obviously, in all defeats there will be criticism. Alisson was once considered the best goalkeeper in the world; today he is top-three without a doubt.”
Alisson still No.1
If Brazil failing to make it past the last eight of the World Cup reduces Alisson to a top three ‘keeper, then who, it must be asked, is better than him?
Obviously, four stoppers made it further than Alisson. But none can really claim to be as good as Liverpool’s No.1
Firstly, the ‘keeper who bettered him for Croatia – Dominik Livakovic – is obviously a good player. But at twenty-seven, he’s still playing his football in his home country, for Dinamo Zagreb. There have been rumblings over a move to Bayern Munich but, for now, he doesn’t come close to Alisson.
Morocco’s Bono is another who has had a really impressive tournament. He has also shown himself capable of performing to a really high level with Sevilla. But better than Ali? Not even close.
Then, to the finalists. Hugo Lloris could remarkably become the first captain ever to win back-to-back World Cup winners medals. He has been a stalwart for France over many years, but is also notoriously sloppy at times. The 35-year-old certainly runs Alisson the closest here, but there’s still no question who comes out on top.
Finally, we won’t even entertain the idea that Argentina’s Emi Martinez is fit to lace Alisson’s boots. In the 30-year-old’s mind, there’s no doubt that he thinks he could. But beyond all the bluster and big talk, he’s still a mid-table Premier League goalie.
Of course, there are some brilliant goalkeepers not featuring, or failing to get far with their countries in Qatar. Thibaut Courtois is the most recent winner of the Yashin Award, but had a poor tournament with Belgium. So, we think Cesar is underrating his compatriot here. We may be biased, but show us a goalkeeper better than ours. We’ll wait.
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