Safe Hands: Almuth Schult

The recurring Safe Hands slot, written by Chris Brookes, turns the spotlight from strikers to goalkeepers with VfL Wolfsburg and Germany’s Almuth Schult. She nominates a save against Canada in the Olympic semi-final as an important one, and recalls being tried in goal by her coach at eight, then keeping for a boys’ team while playing outfield for the girls for eight years. Schult describes herself as nerveless, self-confident and possessed of a winning mentality, names Manuel Neuer and Iker Casillas as her favourites for their technique and reaction speed, and admits she spends longer choosing gloves than boots because the grip must be right. She likes competitive training and dislikes exercises whose purpose she cannot see, wishes every outfield player would stand in goal once, and tells young keepers never to give up.