Everyone writes about the goals, the saves and the red cards but one aspect of football that doesn’t get enough praise is the art of clearing the ball off of one’s own line.
When the goalkeeper’s in no man’s land and you have to stretch against your momentum to get rid, few defenders are capable of clearing their lines successfully.
The knack comes with experience and ability to read a play before it develops and it’s something that Jerome Boateng has in abundance.
In the final ten minutes of the first half of Germany’s Group C clash with Ukraine, the World Champions were under the cosh and had to defend like their lives depended on it.
Boateng certainly did that when he got his body in the way of a vicious strike across goal before he extended every sinew in his body to get on to his goal-line and just barely belt the ball away to safety.
Masterful!
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