Tuesday 13 July 2021
First title win without cheers
Donnarumma doesn’t understand Italy’s European Championship victory
He saves the decisive penalty, making Italy the European champions – but not cheering: Gianluigi Donnarumma is one of the men in the European Football Championship final. Now the goalkeeper explains his unusual behavior after the final thriller against England.
Bukayo Saka was the tenth shooter to take on penalties in the final of the European Football Championship. It was clear: Either he scores for England and it goes into the extension of the extension of the extension or he does not score and Italy is the European champion. Well, it was obviously not that clear to everyone.
Because Italy’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma held Saka’s shot, made his team European champions – and reacted very cool. No cheers, rigid face while his teammates ran up to him, hugged him, celebrated. While around them almost an entire stadium sank into collective grief. England had lost, the English home fans mourned at London’s Wembley Stadium. Actually a clear backdrop, but 22-year-old Donnarumma didn’t understand it.
He apparently wanted to prepare for the next penalty kick, was mentally completely in the tunnel and now admits: “I didn’t cheer immediately because I didn’t understand.” This is what the “Player of the Tournament” told Sky Sport. He said: “I was down after Jorginho’s penalty because I thought we lost.” His teammate had started immediately before Saka and had also fired.
A total of five of the ten penalties did not go into the goal, so the newcomer from Paris St. Germain lost track. “I looked at the referee to see if everything was okay. Then I saw my team-mates come up to me and didn’t understand anything,” said Donnarumma about the situation immediately after the win. Italy won the penalty shootout 3-2 and thus the European title.
Donnarumma understood that when the storms of joy caught him. With two penalties saved, he was one of the heroes of the game.
.