Goalkeepers of Euro 2024 through the eyes of Rok Vodišek: Eleven insane saves and simultaneously a novelty that puts goalkeepers to an even greater test

Published on 24. June 2024 24. June 2024

Text: Rok Vodišek. Photo: UEFA

The second round of the group stage of Euro 2024 is behind us, and Sunday already saw the start of an excellent battle for qualification to the finals. Our expert commentator Rok Vodišek, a former member of Olimpija who also honed his skills in Italy with Genoa, this time focused on goalkeepers who, in his opinion, showed the most in the second round of the continental championship.

The second round in all groups at Euro 2024 in Germany has concluded. A few days after a bitter draw against Serbia, the memory of the last seconds of Thursday’s match still stings, but thoughts are already turned towards Tuesday, when our boys will be chasing advancement among the top 16 teams on the Old Continent.

Goalkeepers continued their trend from the first round and generally performed very well. Some even exceptionally, one might say. Despite conceding two goals, Albanian goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha did an outstanding job and kept our southern neighbors on edge. On the other hand, Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livaković could and perhaps should have intervened better on Albania’s first goal, but partly redeemed himself with an excellent save in a one-on-one situation in the first half. Although it seemed he guessed in the goalkeeper’s jargon, he still read the opponent’s intentions well and made an excellent stop. Even more impressive than this save was his intervention towards the end of the second half, first stopping a dangerous shot and quickly reacting to gather the rebound just ahead of an Albanian player.

Italy’s captain Gianluigi Donnarumma also had a lot of work against Spain, which he handled very well. He reacted excellently to a header from Pedri at about 6 meters and an exceptional long-range shot from Fabian Ruiz. He tipped the ball over the crossbar with his fingertips, preventing the Spaniard from scoring one of the most beautiful goals of the tournament so far.

We also witnessed the first match of this Euro that ended with the most unpopular result, 0-0. It was one of the derbies of this second round between the Netherlands and France. The main “culprits” for the lack of goals were both goalkeepers – Mike Maignan on one side and young Bart Verbruggen on the other.

Of course, we must not overlook the performance of Jan Oblak, who made two outstanding saves at crucial moments, at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, when he faced Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrović alone.

Despite all the above, the standout goalkeeper performance of the second round undoubtedly came from Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. He frustrated Czech Republic players with 11 saves, ensuring Georgia secured their first point at European championships. Rightfully, he was also named the best player of the match and earned a spot in the best eleven of the second round of Euro 2024.

Read also

This European championship has seen a very high number of attempts from outside the 16-meter area, and consequently, a high number of goals from distance. This is a novelty compared to previous tournaments. Perhaps the reason lies in increasingly solid defenses that are hard to break through and create opportunities inside the opponent’s penalty area. The alternative to this, of course, is attempts from long range, which have proven to be an effective solution in this tournament. Goalkeepers must be prepared for such shots and pay close attention to them. In connection with these shots, we have already seen many top-class saves. One of them was mentioned earlier when I highlighted Donnarumma’s save after Ruiz’s shot. Similarly, we all likely remember the excellent save by Serbian goalkeeper Predrag Rajković, who unfortunately prevented a goal from Benjamin Šeško with a superb effort after a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Finally, it is worth noting that there are only two undefeated goalkeepers left in this tournament. They are Frenchman Mike Maignan and Spaniard Unai Simon. The third and final round in the groups already began on Sunday. I hope we will continue to enjoy excellent goalkeeper performances, even if it means a few less goals. However, the highlight of the third round awaits us on Tuesday, when our boys will strive for advancement among the top 16 teams of the old continent. All of us believe and are confident that they can achieve historic success, despite facing a very quality team like England on paper. So, on Tuesday at 21:00, everyone in front of their screens, or even better – in Cologne!

This text was automatically translated using AI.

Author: editorial Football Planet