Success or failure depends on the goalkeeper

Diogo Costa's moments in the match against Slovenia - Photo: REUTERS

And if Ronaldo has a similar happy ending at Euro 2024, he will be extremely grateful to goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

It is worth mentioning that just 2 years ago, Diogo Costa was blamed for Portugal's defeat to Morocco in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

Hero of the moment

Ahead of Euro 2024, Mr. Filipe Luis - a Portuguese coach currently working in Vietnam - firmly affirmed that Diogo Costa will shine at Euro 2024.

"He is a quality goalkeeper. Two years ago, Diogo Costa was simply unlucky. Portugal dominated Morocco for most of the match, Costa had little to do. When the situation happened, he could not choose the right landing spot and made a mistake. Goalkeepers grow from such experiences," Mr. Luis said when commenting on his hometown team with Tuoi Tre.

Diogo Costa has yet to show much ahead of the Euro 2024 round of 16 match against Slovenia. The 24-year-old goalkeeper played well, making three saves in the 3-0 win over Türkiye. But in the remaining two group stage matches, Costa had to pick the ball out of the net three times. Meanwhile, he only made one save.

But that’s not Diogo Costa’s fault. A team as dominant as Portugal doesn’t give their opponents many chances to shoot. And when the defense slips, Costa is always put in a one-on-one situation or a situation where he can’t save the ball.

But like strikers, a goalkeeper’s career can sometimes only take a few moments to become a hero. Costa spent the entire 90 minutes against Slovenia with just one save. In the 115th minute of the match, he was forced to face Benjamin Sesko - Slovenia’s most expensive player - after a disastrous slip by centre-back Pepe.

That moment reminded me of the situation when Kolo Muani faced Emiliano Martinez in the 120th minute of the 2022 World Cup final. If Muani had kicked it, half of the global fans would have collapsed, and the argument about who is better between Messi and Ronaldo would probably never end.

But Martinez rushed out extremely quickly to successfully block Muani's shot. A camera angle showed that at that moment Messi was almost stunned. Everything he pursued throughout his football career would probably be nothing without goalkeeper Martinez.

Messi has Martinez, Ronaldo also has Costa, the "guards" have successfully "protected" the king of their national football. After successfully saving that shot, Costa entered the penalty shootout full of confidence and successfully blocked all 3 shots of his opponent.

Goalkeeper Diogo Costa is Portugal's hero at Euro 2024 - Photo: REUTERS

The age of the goalkeepers

Even with such a brilliant performance, Costa is still ranked by Whoscored… 25th out of 28 goalkeepers who have played at Euro 2024 in terms of points (as of the last two matches of the round of 16). That doesn't mean much, because as mentioned above, goalkeepers of big teams often don't have many opportunities to show their ability in the group stage.

Georgia's Mamardashvili is currently the goalkeeper with the highest number of saves and points at Euro 2024. This is an understandable result when Georgia is constantly attacked by all opponents in every match. Goalkeepers Trubin (Ukraine), Oblak (Slovenia), Strakosha (Albania) and Nita (Romania) also have similar performances.

Maignan (France) is the starting goalkeeper of a big team (still in the quarter-finals) with the highest number of saves - 11 in 4 matches. He is still ranked 11th. In the upcoming match between France and Portugal, the ones who will decide the victory or defeat may not be Ronaldo or Mbappe, but Maignan or Costa.

Teams that win major tournaments are all associated with an outstanding goalkeeper. That is Donnarumma of Italy at Euro 2020. Martinez of Argentina at the 2022 World Cup…

In the trend of tight play in world football, the role of goalkeepers is increasingly enhanced. Every team is capable of playing tight, taking strong opponents to extra time or penalty shootouts. There, the winning team must always possess a goalkeeper who is cool and calm enough...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thanh-bai-trong-vao-thu-mon-20240702234303146.htm