Is goalkeeping the loneliest job on the pitch? You're part of a team, but you're also doing your own thing, separated from everyone else by a strip of grass and some paint. In this episode we find out. We meet Paul Izzo, an Australian professional footballer, and one of three goalkeepers named in Australia's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, currently playing at the Danish Club Randers FC, where we meet him. Paul explains the strange psychology of his position: why being number two might be the hardest job in all of football, and why his approach to being a goalkeeper sometimes is to imagine the worst thing that could happen in a single moment. This episode is about pressure, patience, and what it costs to wait on the bench for a moment that may never come, and why that moment, when it arrives, can mean everything.
| Credits |
| Host: Rune Pedersen |
| Producers: Rune Pedersen at Onomato People |
| Writers: Rune Pedersen |
| Artwork: Wendy Tang |
| Post production and sound design: James Coster and Dom Evans at EARSAY |
| SBS Audio team: Joel Supple, Max Gosford, Bernadette Phương Nam Nguyễn, Phil Soliman |
| Guests/voices: Paul Izzo |
Thanks to Randers FC & Laura Bannerholt for hosting the interview on their premises.
Watch every minute of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ via SBS On Demand
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