It is not so uncommon to watch a goalkeeper taking a penalty shot as if he was a field player. That happens more often in penalty shootouts where there this no risk that a failed conversion endangers the goalkeeper’s own nets. Nonetheless, through football history some goalkeepers have taken the risk of trying to score a penalty kick during the match.
But what if you add to that kind of skill also the Master skill of taking direct free kicks for your own team while being the goalkeeper? Risky? Well not much if you have the precision of Brazilian Rogério Ceni, São Paulo’s goalkeeper since 1990 and still active at the age of 41. Ceni announced that in the end of 2014 he will put an end to his career.
In all his professional career that started in 1990 in São Paulo (his first game out of the bench was in 1993 and only in 1997 he ‘firmly took’ São Paulo nets for good and till now) , Rogério Ceni scored 114 goals in 1135 official games. He holds the World Record of goals scored by a goalkeeper.
More than half (59) resulted from successful free kicks and the other 55 from penalty kicks. He scored his first goal in February 15th of 1997. In the 108 games he scored São Paulo lost only 7 times (won 80 games and tied 21). He also scored twice in 4 games which is rather unusual for a goalkeeper.
Other goalkeepers – as Paraguayan José Luís Chilavert – also have shown skills in goal scoring but not at the level of Rogério Ceni. Ceni overcame Chilavert’s record (62 goals) in August 2006 and he is still playing.
In 2005 Rogério Ceni Scored an amazing number of 21 goals (11 free kicks and 10 penalty kicks) winning the São Paulo State Championship, Copa Libertadores (kind of South America Champions League)
Champions League 2012/2013 Playoffs Draw – Facts and Figures
and FIFA’s Club World Cup (he was the first goalkeeper to score in this competition).
FIFA’s Club World Cup 2012 – Schedule, Format and History
In 2006 he scored 16 goals being one of the anchors that sustained São Paulo route to grab the 2006 Brazilian Championship.
Palmeiras also from São Paulo state (7), Cruzeiro (6) and Vasco da Gama (5) are on his favorite hit list.
In 2013 he scored 6 goals. His last goal was scored in 2014.
He was (2007) the first player of a non-European team to be nominated for France Football Ballon d´Or (current FIFA Ballon d’Or).
Rogério Ceni is the Brazilian player with more games in Copa libertadores (72) and São Paulo best ever goal scorer this competition with 11 goals!
He has 1135 games played for São Paulo and recently passed Pelé (1.114 game for Santos) and Roberto Dinamite (1.066 games for Vasco da Gama), both as well Brazilian players of Brazilian Teams.
His game 1.000 has celebrated in September 7th 2011 and his 100th goal was scored a few months earlier (March 27th)against Corinthians that became FIFA’s 2012 World Club Champions (he scored against this also São Paulo’s State team for the first time breaking the curse he seemed to had against them).
FIFA’s Club World Cup – Corinthians Crowned World Champion!
In 850 of those games he was the team’s Captain which is also a world record.
All in all, he is the 7th best ‘Striker’ of São Paulo’s history and the 3rd best if one considers only the Brazilian championship games!
Now wonder he is considered a God among São Paulo Fans!!!
