Goalscoring Goalkeepers: Our Top 5

There are rare occasions in football when your last line of defence manages to show your strikers how it's done in the opposition penalty box.

We are of course talking about those wonderful goalscoring goalkeepers. Some of them took free-kicks & penalties - and some were just plain insane.

Here's a list of just a few of our favourite ones...

Rene Higuita - Colombia

It's well known that you have to be a bit mad to be a goalkeeper, but Rene Higuita cranks that crazy up to a whole new level. Never mind Fabian Barthez's eccentricity, Rene Higuita sometimes played as though he thought he was the only man on the pitch.

Everyone instantly thinks of his famous 'scorpion kick' against when Higuita's name comes up in conversation, but the above video shows you just how mad this guy was - as well as his ability to score a tasty free-kick. He finished his career with 44 goals to his name, including 3 for the Colombian national side.

Fact: Higuita spent 7 months in prison in 1993 after being involved in a kidnapping in Colombia, bizarrely agreeing to escort ransom money from one drug lord to another. He also underwent extensive cosmetic surgery on Colombian tv in 2005 and as a result looks almost unrecognisable from the man between the sticks above.

Jorge Campos - Mexico 

Ok, technically Jorge Campos was a goalkeeper & he finished his career with 34 goals - but by the letter of the law he wasn't actually a goalscoring keeper... confused yet?

Well bizarrely, Campos played large portions of his career as a striker as well as a keeper - sometimes playing both positions in a single game.

In the video above, he was actually playing up front for Atlante after starting the match between the sticks - not a bad finish.

Fact: Campos designed all of his own goalkeeper shirts, which were often known for being outlandish and full of bright colours. He now works as a commentator for Azteca TV in Mexico.

Jose Luis Chilavert - Paraguay

While playing for Velez Sarsfield in 1999, Jose Luis Chilvart did something no other professional goalkeeper has ever done - he scored a hattrick!

Granted, they were all penalties, but just look at the conviction as he takes them - that 3rd one was absolutely smashed home.

Chilavert also took free-kicks and scored some absolute beauties throughout his career.

Fact: Chilavert had a notoriously short temper and threw punches at both Faustino Asprilla & Diego Maradona.

Peter Schmeichel - Denmark

As well as being easily one of the greatest shot-stoppers of all time and the last line of defence for the treble-winning Manchester United team of 1999, Schmeichel also scored a fair few goals in his career.

He scored 11 in total, including one for the Danish national side. He also had a an overhead kick ruled our for offside against Aston Villa in the late 90s - a goal which probably would have been the greatest ever goal scored by a keeper.

Fact: Schmeichel is now often seen working as a tv presenter/host on Danish television shows that have little to nothing to do with football.

Rogerio Ceni - Brazil

Just last weekend, Rogerio Ceni scored his 126th career goal - that is an unreal stat for a goalkeeper. Although he often took penalties like many other goalscoring keepers, Ceni has also scored over 40 free-kicks.

Still playing at 42, Ceni has 60+ more goals than the 2nd highest goalscoring keeper - Jose Luis Chilavert.

Fact: Ceni has more wins while playing for a single club than even Ryan Giggs had for Manchester United. Ceni is also a huge fan of rock music, which goes against the grain for most Brazilian footballers who prefer pagoda (a native style of folk).