Is Barcelona's Claudio Bravo the Best Goalkeeper in the World? [VOTE]
As soccer fans know by now, Chile has defeated Argentina in the finals of the 2015 Copa America tournament. While many fans are focusing on forwards Eduardo Vargas and Alexis Sánchez because of their shooting skills, it's Chile's netminder who stands on top.
Claudio Bravo capped off arguably the greatest season in soccer history for a goalkeeper, certainly any Chilean-born player.
Just how incredible was Bravo's year? He was the best Spanish Premier League goalie all season long having led Barcelona to the fewest goals against average in the league. The South American trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez get most of the credit, but it was in fact Bravo who won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy as the best goalkeeper. Bravo is the first and only Chile-born goalie to win the award.
Bravo played all but one game for Barcelona during the La Liga season leading the league in clean sheets, fewest goals allowed, games played, minutes played, and wins. Thanks to his amazing play between the pipes, Barcelona captured their 23rd Spanish League title ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and rival Real Madrid.
Bravo's second championship of the year came against Athletic Bilbao in the 2015 Copa del Rey championship. That game was played at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, where Barcelona easily took care of business, 3-1. Just one week later, Bravo expanded his championship success to the continental level. Barcelona would go on to win the Champions League final over Juventus thanks to an extra time goal from Neymar. Marc-André ter Stegen and Bravo each split time in net for the Champions League final and the Copa del Rey.
Bravo had won the exclusive treble, all three championships in one year on the same squad. For most players, that's enough awards, success and championships to fill a career résumé. But for Bravo, his 2015 campaign was just beginning.
He was named team captain for the Chile National Team, to no one's surprise. He was placed in Group A of the Copa America where Chile would be the heavy favorites to win, and they did just that. While so much attention was being paid to Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, it was Chile who had the best goalkeeper in the South American tournament.
In group play Bravo earned two shutouts in his three games blanking both Bolivia and Ecuador. Mexico was the only team to find the back of the net against him. In the quarterfinals, Bravo once again didn't allow a goal, this time against rival Uruguay in a 1-0 victory.
The only goal that Bravo "allowed" against Peru was an own goal scored by his own defender Gary Medal
In the finals against Messi and Argentina, Chile got the best from Bravo. Bravo once again did not allow a single goal shutting out the high powered Argentinian offense. As the game went into penalty kicks, Bravo allowed just goal against on three attempts.
For the entire Copa America, Bravo conceded a goal from an opponent in regulation in just one of the six games played. Truly an incredible accomplishment
All soccer fans can say for his unbelievable 2015 season is, "Bravo."
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