Best Goalkeeper 2015: The short-list is confirmed

Elinton Andrade, Andrei Bukhlitskyi, and Jonathan Torohia will vie for the title of Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2015

In a sport with so many goals, and exciting ones at that, it is the goalie who could be argued is the most important player on the sand and these three options won a plethora of games for their sides this past year. Andrade (POR), Bukhlitskyi (RUS), and Jo (TAH) have earned their place among the games’ best but who will take home the award of Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2015? Bukhlitskyi is the only goalie on this list that was a finalist last year, however he was beat out by Dona of Spain in the 2014 Beach Soccer Stars edition. While revenge on Dona is not possible, he will surely be lobbying harder for the title this year.

It was a great year for all three National Selections, Portugal, Tahiti, and Russia, with the teams finishing the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 in that order. On top of that, the Portuguese won the Euro Beach Soccer League 2015 Superfinal Pärnu. While around eight goals per match are scored, there is a 100% surety that none of these teams would have finished where they did without Andrade, Bukhitskyi, and Jo. One amazing coincidence of this years’ group is that two of them, Andrade and Jo, burst onto the beach soccer scene recently. Jo has been the keeper for Tahiti for the past few years but this year and this World Cup was his coming out party where he earned the adidas Golden Glove and gained much deserved recognition. Andrade started his ascent to one of the worlds’ best when he played for SC Braga, the Portuguese club, in the Euro Winners Cup 2015. Since then, the Portuguese keeper has risen to the top. Bukhlitskyi has been a mainstay on the best goalkeeper list and it is no surprise that his steady play and spectacular saves have him back again in 2015. 

The importance of this award cannot be understated as it rewards the best in the game but more importantly, these awards are voted on by players and coaches only. While they may all be fan-favourites, this award will be given by the people that see them and play against them the most, their rivals. The winner will be revealed at the Beach Soccer Stars 2015 award ceremony, set to take place on November 7^th, 2015. The gala will take place after the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai 2015 has finished, earlier that day. The entire event, from the beach soccer beginning on the 3^rd to the party on the 7^th will all be broadcast on www.beachsoccer.com.