Almunia Might Win England’s Number One Jersey Through Kicking Comp?

Almunia might well have cemented his number one position with Arsenal over Jens Lehmann, but it seems the Spaniard will not shun talks pointing to his appointment as England’s next custodian? It may be a little too overly premature, and more media hype than anything else (didn’t my sensationalist headline reel you in?), but if you look at Almunia’s recent solid performances, and Capello’s recent appointment, anything may be possible.

Almunia faces two very rough roads, where in Spain he has never been thought of as a possible number one candidate as goalkeeper over Casillas, Canizares and Reina. On the other hand, England has faced a so called “goalkeeping crisis” with poor performances from Robertson, James and recently Carson. So Almunia, along with many other international candidates plying their trade in England may have the possibility to throw their hands up for the pole position in goals if they can gain citizenship.

Back to Almunia v Lehmann over at Arsenal. I found this recent video of something called “Crossbar Challenge” (something like that Nike video with Ronahldinho hitting the ball at the crossbar, if you’ve ever seen it), and it featured many of Arsenal’s players, plus a cameo by Lehmann (who misses hitting the crossbar, but very close) and also Almunia, whom wins the competition outright with an awesome kick.

You can check out the video here:

Maybe a little kicking comp will help pan out the next best candidate for England’s number 1 jersey?