Brandon Petersen’s recent performances in the DStv Premiership are the epitome of Bob Wilson’s sentiments that “goalies have the loneliest job in football”.
Wilson, a British football legend, has a four-minute film with the New York Times titled The Lonely Goalkeeper, which touches on themes of competition, fear and self-belief.
The performances of Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Petersen might as well be a replay of the film on the former Arsenal star.
Petersen’s butterfingers saw Chiefs lose their second league game 2-1 to champions Mamelodi Sundowns as he failed to save Neo Maema’s timid shot.
As if that wasn’t enough, Petersen conceded an own-goal after the ball came off the upright and accidentally hit his hand and rolled into the back of the net, resulting in their 1-0 loss to TS Galaxy on Sunday.
In both matches, if not for the blemishes, Petersen would have duly walked away with the Player of the Match award due to the countless saves he made for Chiefs.
But it wasn’t to be. Angry Chiefs supporters have criticised him for his errors instead of recognising the good work he’d done to keep his team in the game.
Former Chiefs goalkeeper William ‘Cool Cat’ Shongwe knows all about the loneliness that comes with being a goalkeeper and has shared some advice for Petersen.
“I wouldn’t consider it (the own goal) a mistake,” Shongwe told Independent Media.
Kaizer Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki reacts to their loss to TS Galaxy in the #DStvPrem pic.twitter.com/510SwvJQ3Z
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) August 20, 2023
“It’s a pity that it bounced off his hand. It’s just one of those situations when you think, ‘how could this happen so frequently?’
“He went on and made brilliant saves – more difficult than that one.
“You shouldn’t judge a goalie (by one mistake). Coaches will tell you that you can concede from mistakes but that doesn’t mean you must change the team.
“Look at the good things that happened from that game against Galaxy and then you build from those.
“In the case of Petersen, I am saying he must just have the mentality to stick it out.
“I had a chat with him in Cape Town before the game against Cape Town City (in the MTN8 quarterfinals) about how and if he had recovered from the game against Sundowns,” Shongwe said.
“He came across positive. I spoke to his coach Rainer Dinkelacker as well (and) he was saying they were also working on his mental side of him to be positive.
“I didn’t expect him to be befallen by (a second) incident in such a short space of time. Goalkeepers make a mistake, and it takes a while before they commit another howler.”
After Petersen’s first incident, Chiefs head coach Molefi Ntseki backed him. But with Ntseki having been pelted with objects thrown by the Chiefs supporters after the loss to Galaxy, it remains to be seen how he’ll react against AmaZulu on Saturday.
Chiefs will meet Usuthu needing to win their first league game of the season to calm the fans – hence Ntseki has a tough call to make. But whatever decision Ntseki makes, Shongwe expects Dinkelacker to shoulder the pressure.
“He (Dinkelacker) is experienced and can take the pressure. It’s not always goalkeepers that take the pressure when they concede,” former SuperSport United goalkeeper coach Shongwe said.
“I think it’s good for the likes of (the two other goalkeeper coaches) Aubrey Mothibe and Rory Minnaar to have Dinkelacker. It helps them to get into it as they are not taking the pressure on their own. They have a big brother!”
@MihlaliBaleka