Success or failure depends on the goalkeeper

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

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

It's worth noting that just two years prior, 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, Filipe Luis, the Portuguese coach currently working in Vietnam, confidently asserted that Diogo Costa would shine at Euro 2024.

"He's 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 arose, he couldn't choose the right landing spot and made a mistake. Goalkeepers mature from experiences like that," Luis said when commenting on his home team to Tuổi Trẻ newspaper.

Up until the Euro 2024 Round of 16 match against Slovenia, Diogo Costa hadn't shown much. The 24-year-old goalkeeper played well with 3 saves in the 3-0 win against Türkiye. But in the other two group stage matches, Costa conceded 3 goals while only making one save.

But that wasn't Diogo Costa's fault. A team that plays an attacking style like Portugal doesn't give the opponent many opportunities to shoot. And once the defense is careless, Costa is always put in a one-on-one situation or in shots that are impossible to save.

But just like strikers, a goalkeeper's career sometimes only needs a few moments to become a hero. Costa went through the 90 minutes of the match against Slovenia with only one save. Then, in the 115th minute, he found himself facing Benjamin Sesko – Slovenia's most expensive player – after a disastrous slip by center-back Pepe.

That moment is reminiscent of Kolo Muani's one-on-one situation with Emiliano Martinez in the 120th minute of the 2022 World Cup final. If Muani had scored, half the world's football fans would have collapsed, and the debate over who is better, Messi or Ronaldo, would probably never end.

But Martinez rushed out incredibly fast to successfully block Muani's shot. A camera angle showed that at that moment, Messi was almost speechless. Everything he had pursued throughout his football career would probably have been meaningless without goalkeeper Martinez.

Messi has Martinez, and Ronaldo has Costa, two "bodyguards" who successfully "protected" the king of their respective national football nations. After making that crucial save, Costa entered the penalty shootout full of confidence and successfully saved all three of his opponents' shots.

Goalkeeper Diogo Costa was the hero for Portugal at Euro 2024 - Photo: REUTERS

The era of goalkeepers

Even with such a stellar performance, Costa was still ranked 25th out of 28 goalkeepers who had played in Euro 2024 in terms of points (as of the two final matches of the round of 16). This doesn't mean much, because, as mentioned above, goalkeepers of big teams usually don't have many opportunities to showcase their skills in the group stage.

Mamardashvili of Georgia currently holds the record for the most saves and highest rating among goalkeepers at Euro 2024. This is understandable, given that Georgia faced relentless attacks from all opponents in every match. Goalkeepers Trubin (Ukraine), Oblak (Slovenia), Strakosha (Albania), and Nita (Romania) also had similar performances.

Maignan (France), the starting goalkeeper for a major team (which still reached the quarter-finals), has the highest number of saves – 11 in 4 matches. He's still ranked 11th. In the upcoming clash between France and Portugal, the deciding factor might not be Ronaldo or Mbappe, but rather Maignan or Costa.

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

In the increasingly tight style of football, the role of the goalkeeper is becoming more and more important. Every team is capable of playing a tight game, forcing strong opponents into extra time or penalty shootouts. In such situations, the winning team always needs a goalkeeper who is cool-headed and composed…

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