Goalkeepers of Euro 2024 through the eyes of Rok Vodišek: The highlighted keeper who showed the least in the first round of the championship of the Old Continent

Published on 19. June 2024 19. June 2024

Text: Rok Vodišek. Photo: Ukraine national football team

The first round of the Euro 2024 group stage is behind us, and the second round of battles for advancement to the final stages began on Wednesday. Our expert commentator Rok Vodišek, a former member of Olimpija who also developed in Italy with Genoa, has taken a closer look at the goalkeeper who, in his opinion, showed the least in the opening round of the Old Continent’s championship.

I admit it. Andriy Lunin, due to an excellent club season with Real Madrid, was highlighted as one of the goalkeepers to watch at this year’s Euro 2024. Now I have to highlight him for somewhat different reasons… But before I really start, I would like to emphasize that I very reluctantly criticize goalkeepers, as I am well aware that it is easy to comment and be wise from the comfort of the home couch, but when you are actually on the field, the picture is completely different. As a goalkeeper myself, I understand how difficult and responsible this position is. I know that most football laymen think otherwise and believe that we just stand in goal for 90 minutes and occasionally dive for the ball. Of course, this is far from the truth, but let’s leave these debates for another occasion and focus on Andriy Lunin and the match between Ukraine and Romania.

For the first goal in the 29th minute, after a back pass from his defender, he poorly cleared the ball, which consequently reached Dennis Man. Man then passed to Nicolae Stanciu, who scored unstoppably from about 20 meters into the top right corner of the Ukrainian goalkeeper. Undoubtedly, Lunin did not clear the ball well and could and should have intervened better in this segment. However, it is also true that the ball was still 25 meters from the goal despite the poor clearance and another pass followed before the goal. Therefore, I believe that Lunin is not the sole “culprit” for the conceded goal. Yes, he made a mistake and passed the ball to the opponent, but his teammates still had some time to correct his mistake. Additionally, it must be acknowledged that Stanciu finished the action superbly, and with such shots, it is simply impossible to intervene. But honestly, if the ball had flown just a meter higher and ended up out of play, no one would probably remember Lunin’s failed clearance today.

For the second goal by Razvan Marin in the 53rd minute, I felt that he should have intervened better, but it is also a fact that he was slightly covered by his teammates and did not see the ball well. From my own experience, I can say that such balls are very challenging for a goalkeeper. Even though it was a shot from 25 meters, the fact that he did not see the ball from the start meant the reaction time he had available was significantly shorter than it would have been with a clear view. This lack of reaction time likely contributed to the ball, as we say, “going under his arm,” as he could not get down quickly enough and consequently had his lower hand too high.

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Just seconds before the third Romanian goal, he made an excellent save and managed to tip the ball out for a corner after a powerful shot. However, from that corner, the Romanians scored their third goal in the 57th minute, setting the final score at 3-0. For the last goal, I believe Lunin could do nothing, and this time it was his teammates who let him down. Dennis Man easily got past Lunin and unselfishly passed to Denis Dragus, who just pushed the ball into the empty net.

In summary, this was not a good performance for Lunin, but I still believe he will show his quality at this year’s Euro. After all, he has demonstrated it multiple times this season at Real Madrid, where expectations are always enormous, and so is the pressure. I believe he is mentally strong enough not to be derailed by one poor match and will draw confidence from his past performances.