Goalkeepers like Manchester City's Ederson, his compatriot Alisson Becker at Liverpool and Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer are highly regarded in modern football. But until FIFA changed the rule on passing to the goalkeeper 30 years ago, goalkeepers rarely used their feet to participate in the build-up of a move, except when striking the ball. They took the time they needed and then removed him from possession. Former Colombia goalkeeper Rene Higuita – known for his famous acrobatic kick (scorpion kick) – says he is responsible for changing this rule and is very proud of it.
"Football greats like Pele and Diego Maradona were very good players, but they have not changed any rules in FIFA," Higuita told AFP in a visual presentation.
In Colombia, the decision to penalize goalkeepers who catch the ball with their hand, which is returned by a teammate, is otherwise known as the "Higuitas Rule". Football's governing body - FIFA - decided to react after the 1990 World Cup in Italy was heavily criticized for stoppages in play, which produced a record low goal scoring rate of 2.2 goals per game. Higuita says that in that tournament, he showed the way to attack. FIFA removed the backward pass rule at the Barcelona Olympics in June and July 1992, and it immediately caused consternation and outrage.
"FIFA put an end to something that was terrible. In the 1990 World Cup, almost all teams played behind, giving the ball to the goalkeeper", said historian Luciano Wernicke.
At that World Cup, goalkeepers such as Argentina's Sergio Goycochea, Costa Rica's Luis Gabelo Conejo and Italy's Walter Zenga "kept the ball in their hands for a large period of time," added Argentina's Wernicke.
Higuita stood out, not only because of his curly hair style, but also because he was not afraid to keep the ball at his feet and had the ability to create attacking situations with his passes to his teammates. But it wasn't all glory. Higuitas' game ultimately cost his representative. In the round of 1, Higuitas had the ball taken from Cameroon forward Roger Milla, far from the dangerous area of the goal. Higuita tried to dribble and go forward, but he couldn't do it. Milla then ran with the ball on his feet and scored the winning goal into the empty net to eliminate Colombia. His celebration during the two goals in the 8:2 victory became iconic moments of the tournament. Higuita, known as "El Loco" (the madman), also took penalties and free kicks. Scored 1 goals in his career.
"Now football is faster, there are more movements, every day goalkeepers have to do something more with their feet to give something to the team", said Higuita, who is convinced that he was the reason for the change rule.
While Wernicke admits Higuita was special, he disputes the former Colombia goalkeeper's theory.
"It is not that this rule changed because of Higuita, but because of all the goalkeepers who were not like Higuita", he insisted.
One of the big names of goalkeepers, like Andoni Zubizarreta of Barcelona, was against the new rule, saying in the newspaper "El Pais" in 1992, that this would "limit the goalkeepers". Higuita laughs "evilly" when he remembers how the "incompetent" goalkeepers had a problem adapting to the new rule. Santiago Canizares, who played for Spain in the 1992 Olympics, recently spoke about how the backward pass rule made him nervous.
"It was a surprise for us", he told "olympics.com". "We didn't know that this would become a part of our lives."
The impact was immediately noticeable at the 1994 World Cup in the USA, where he contributed 2.7 goals per game. These were the highest figures since 1970.
"It's the best rule in the last 40 years, it's made football more dynamic," says Wernicke.
Responsible or not, Higuita supports any measures taken that would reduce the time lost during the game, for example stopping the time when the ball goes out of bounds.
"There's a lot of talk about implementing 'real time,' as it is in basketball, and that's not a bad idea," says Higuita.
If that happens, Higuita can take the credit.
