Chance Aurora, Colo. Who is the best goalie currently playing? I personally like Jorge Campos! Ridge Mahoney: Chance, Campos is certainly a flamboyant goalkeeper, and he played very well for Mexico at the World Cup last summer, but I can’t rank him as best in the world. To be honest, though, I don’t see enough games to justifiably evaluate all of the top keepers. If you throw in his ability to play striker and score goals, Campos is certainly the most versatile keeper, and among the most athletic. In ranking keepers, one of the most important criteria is not how many fantastic saves they make, but rather how seldom they fail to stop shots they should save. Nothing demoralizes a team more than watching its goalkeeper let in a softy, or dropping a cross that the opposition taps in. Remember what happened to Spain at the 1998 World Cup? Leading Nigeria, 2-1, in the first round, Spanish keeper Andoni Zubizaretta accidentally pushed the ball into his own net. Nigeria, inspired, scored another goal to win the game, and Spain was eventually eliminated. I usually start with the best keepers who play for their national teams, but some of the top goalies — like David Seaman of England and Peter Schmeichel of Denmark — are getting a tad old, and are not quite as good as they were a year or two ago. (They both turn 36 this year.) But keepers mature later than field players, and many people felt Dino Zoff was the best keeper in the world at the age of 40 when he helped Italy win the World Cup in 1982. A very good goalkeeper who receives little attention due to his country’s mediocre international record is Vitor Baia of Portugal. I also like Jose Santiago Canizares, the Spanish keeper who plays for Valencia. At the World Cup last summer, I thought the top keepers were Jose Luis Chilavert of Paraguay, Carlos Roa of Argentina, and Gianluca Pagliuca of Italy. Kasey Keller is on the brink of breaking into the top tier. If he has a solid season in the Spanish First Division, he’ll receive the recognition he deserves in Europe. He’s already proven to be a superb goalkeeper for the United States. So those are some of the keepers I rate highest. If you ask me which ones I like the best, I say Kasey, Chilavert and two young keepers: Robert Enke, a German goalie who plays in Portugal for Benfica, and a Spanish keeper, Toni.