Xavi Malián: “Even if the goalposts are different, the mindset is the same” | OneFootball

The second edition of Golden Gloves brought together FC Porto’s goalkeepers and goalkeeper coaches at the Jorge Costa Training and Football Development Centre, in a meeting where players and coaches from football and the club’s other sports shared experiences and strengthened the bond between the Club’s various teams.

For Xavi Malián, the roller hockey goalkeeper, “it was really great to meet all of FC Porto’s goalkeepers in person” and to “share experiences” with colleagues in the same position, since “even if the goals are different and the sports are too, the mindset is the same.”

Nélson Filipe, former goalkeeper and member of the roller hockey coaching staff, described it as “a very good experience” and admitted he was “surprised” by the curiosity shown by the 80 young football goalkeepers, who “showed great curiosity about handball and hockey.”

Telmo Ferreira, handball goalkeeper coach, praised “an excellent initiative” and argued that it should be repeated, because it is always possible to “learn a little from everyone” and there is “always something in common” among the other members of the Porto family.

Xavi MaliánOne shared mindset“It was really great to meet all of FC Porto’s goalkeepers in person. For me it was a pleasure, and it was good to share experiences. Even if the goals are different and the sports are too, the mindset is the same and we learn many things. I hope this happens again.”

On the rink or on the pitch“Whenever I watch football on television, I think the goal looks smaller, but when I go there I realise the ball can go in from everywhere and I understand that it’s very difficult…”

Nélson Filipe, roller hockey goalkeeper coachAn unforgettable experience“It was a very good experience, truly fantastic. I thank Diogo (Almeida) for the invitation, because we had the football and handball goalkeepers here with us, realities we do not know as well, and which help us understand that although the objective is the same, the dynamics are different. It is always interesting to see how others work, and sometimes we can even find common ground to improve our own abilities.”

Football and the other sports“We discussed a few things that happen, especially in football, because we do have some contact with handball in the arena and, every now and then, we have a few conversations about the position itself. Not so much with football, but today we were able to see the dynamics of their work, how they react to match situations, and we will try to bring that into our own work, even if only in training drills or in dealing with situations that happen day to day, in matches and in training.”

The youngsters’ interest“We were surprised, because the most expected thing was for the questions to focus more on football, especially since we are here with young football players, but the truth is that they showed great curiosity about handball and hockey, which surprised us. We tried to convey what hockey is like, which is quite different from football, but we tried to replicate what a hockey goalkeeper’s work is like, and I think they were excited by the equipment and by the role in goal.”

Telmo Ferreira, handball goalkeeper coachWorth repeating“This is an excellent initiative, I think everyone loved it, and hopefully it will happen again. There is always room to learn; we talked a lot about that over lunch. Even though we are all goalkeepers and all different, we always have something in common. That is an asset for everyone, being able to learn a little from everyone.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.