Watch: TFC goalkeeper Júlio César's spectacular save against South Africa

On-loan Toronto FC goalkeeper Julio Cesar came up big for Brazil against South Africa on Wednesday. (Cal Sport Media/AP) The bizarreness of being a Major

Liviu Bird | Mar 5, 2014

Watch: TFC goalkeeper Júlio César's spectacular save against South Africa /

On-loan Toronto FC goalkeeper Julio Cesar came up big for Brazil against South Africa on Wednesday. (Cal Sport Media/AP)

The bizarreness of being a Major League Soccer player on the same team as Neymar and Oscar didn't get to Júlio César today. The Brazilian goalkeeper didn't have much to do, but he kept South Africa at bay whenever he was called into action.

His best intervention came when he denied substitute Ayanda Patosi in the second half from close range. The South African forward ran onto a slipped through ball in the penalty area and squared to shoot with his first touch.

Anticipating the shot, César fell to his right, but Thiago Silva got in the way and deflected the goal-bound ball. It was enough of a deflection to give César time to scramble back to his left and tip the ball over the crossbar from a nearly seated position.

The 5-0 Brazil win in Johannesburg was César's first competitive game since the FA Cup third round on Jan. 4, his last in a Queens Park Rangers uniform, when he was on the receiving end of an Everton barrage in a 4-0 loss.

Watch his save on Patosi to keep South Africa off the scoresheet below:

Published Mar 5, 2014

LIVIU BIRD

Liviu Bird is a soccer analyst with more than 20 years of experience in the game. He learned how to play in the streets of Romania before moving to the soccer wilderness of Fairbanks, Alaska, escaping to play collegiately as a goalkeeper at Highline Community College and Seattle Pacific University, where he also earned his B.A. in journalism. Bird played semiprofessionally and had tryouts at professional clubs but hung up his gloves in 2012 to focus on writing and coaching at the youth and collegiate levels. He joined Sports Illustrated in March 2013 as a freelance contributor and has also written for NBC Sports, Soccer Wire, The New York Times, American Soccer Now and the Telegraph (UK).