KV Oostende winger David Atanga has jumped to the defense of goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi amid backlash.
Ati-Zigi, who plies his trade for Swiss outfit St Gallen has been heavily criticized by Ghanaians in recent times, with a chunk of the football fanatics labeling him as a subpar goalkeeper.
But Ati-Zigi’s close pal, Atanga insists he is not a bad goalkeeper. According to him, the Black Stars shot stopper should not be judge based on statistics.
“Ati-Zigi has received a lot of criticism from some football fanatics. He has been labeled as a subpar goalkeeper by many. Truth be told, Ati-Zigi is not a bad goalkeeper. He is not an exception; even the greatest goalkeepers in the world including Manuel Neuer has bad days and make mistakes from time to time” he said in an interview with Accra-based Mothers FM.
“I will urge anyone who thinks he is not a good goalkeeper to monitor him at his club, and after watching him, you can decide whether he is good or bad. We shouldn’t only base on statistics to judge him”
“A goalkeeper can concede goals during game but will make a lot of saves. We played together at Salzburg and he was nearly turned into an outfield player. Ati-Zigi is a very good goalkeeper just that there is much pressure when playing for Ghana. In our last two games against Mali and Central Africa Republic, our defenders underperformed and the goalkeeper was blamed”
Ati-Zigi appears to have regain his number spot under new coach Otto Addo having spent the entirety of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 campaign on the bench under former coach Chris Hughton.
The St Gallen shot stopper kept the post against Mali and Central Africa Republic as the Black Stars secured back to back wins to end their winless run this year.
Ghana defeated Mali 2-1 in Bamako before returning to Kumasi to snatch a 4-3 victory over Central Africa Republic.