Sergio Goycochea

Sergio Goycochea

Personal information
Full name	Sergio Javier Goycochea
Date of birth	October 17, 1963 (1963-10-17)
Place of birth	Lima, Argentina
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1979–1982	Defensores Unidos	?	(?)
1982–1988	River Plate	58	(0)
1988–1990	Millonarios	39	(0)
1991	Racing Club	35	(0)
1992	Brest	11	(0)
1992	Cerro Porteño	?	(?)
1993	Olimpia	?	(?)
1993–1994	River Plate	16	(0)
1994–1995	Mandiyú	30	(0)
1995–1996	Internacional	22	(0)
1996–1997	Vélez Sársfield	2	(0)
1997–1998	Newell's Old Boys	13	(0)
National team
1988–1994	Argentina	44	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 2007. † Appearances (Goals).

Sergio Javier Goycochea (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈserxjo xaˈβjer ɣoikoˈtʃea]; born October 17, 1963 in Lima, Buenos Aires) is a famous Argentine former football goalkeeper. He is best known for his penalty kick saves.

Goycochea was the substitute for Nery Pumpido both in River Plate and in the Argentine national team, and got his big break in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, when Pumpido was injured in Argentina's second group game against the Soviet Union. Goycochea was then the goalkeeper in the penalty shootout in the quarterfinal game against the Yugoslavian team. In the semifinal game against Italy, he saved penalty kicks in the penalty shootout from players Roberto Donadoni and Aldo Serena. He was also close to saving the heavily criticized game-winning penalty kick of the 1990 World Cup final against Germany, which Argentina lost 0-1. He was chosen as the goalkeeper of the Cup's All-Star Team.

El Goyco also played a few months in 1991 for the team Stade Brestois 29 from Brest in the region of Brittany, which was then named Brest Armorique, and was in the French second division and included players David Ginola, Corentin Martins and Stéphane Guivarc'h. Nonetheless, the team went bankrupt in November of that year, and was moved to the third division and lost its professional-team status.

With the national team, Goycochea also won the 1993 Copa América. On the occasion of that 1993 Copa América tournament, Goycochea appeared on TV commercials for a Pepsi promotion by PepsiCo's division in Guayaquil. He also was on TV commercials for Adidas soccer apparel some years later.

His last name, Goycochea, spelled without e, but which other people of the same genealogy spell as Goycoechea, is derived from the Basque surname Goikoetxea meaning topmost house (from goiko "of the top" and etxe "house"). Sergio is frequently nicknamed thus El Vasco, but also El Goyco.

For Argentina, Goycochea played in the following competitions:

• 1990 FIFA World Cup Italy (runners-up)
• Copa América 1991 Chile (champions)
• Copa América 1993 Ecuador (champions)
• 1994 FIFA World Cup U.S. (second round, substitute)

Nowadays, Goycochea is a football journalist hosting Elegante Sport (Argentina's Canal 7) and he partnered Diego Maradona at La noche del Diez.

Honours

Copa America: 1991, 1993

Liga Argentina: 1986

Copa Libertadores: 1986

Intercontinental Cup: 1986

Interamerican Cup: 1987

Liga Colombiana: 1988

Liga Paraguaya: 1993

External links

• Sergio Goycochea at National-Football-Teams.com
• (Spanish) Futbol Factory profile (Archived)
• (Spanish) Argnetine Primera statistics
• (Spanish) Interview to Sergio Goycochea - Diagonal
• (Portuguese) Globo Esporte's Futpédia entry