Meet the experts: Pascal Zuberbühler

He also attended the FIFA Women’s U20 World Cup in Costa Rica, in addition to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in India last year. Zuberbühler feels that goalkeepers in women’s football often progress strongly from U17 to U20 and senior level.

“We are seeing a clear progression in the standards of women’s goalkeeping”, he said. “We saw this in France at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and again last year in Costa Rica for the U20 competition and India for the U17s. This is exciting. When we look at the list of goalkeepers, there are some big names and great personalities, and it will be fantastic to see them perform at this tournament. 

“As more teams in the women’s game are now employing goalkeeper coaches, we are seeing clearly how the standard of goalkeeping is improving, and this professionalisation of the role makes an important difference. You cannot underestimate the value of a good goalkeeper coach, working with players both at national team level and club level. It is crucial.

“From a technical point of view, I’m looking forward to seeing goalkeepers in 1v1 situations, how they execute the x-block, their use of their core strength, their ability to claim high balls and of course, their connection with their team both in and out of possession. 

“How involved are they in the tactical plan of the team and how is the accuracy and variability in their distribution? I also like to see their bravery, positioning and relationship with their defenders in 1v1 situations.  

“I have no doubt that we will see more progressions in all of these areas, and I am very much looking forward to it all,” he added.