As the World Cup reaches the semi-final stage, the goalkeepers of the final four teams are also vying for the Golden Glove award of this World Cup. In this World Cup, Martinez, Livakovic, Lloris and Bunu all created brilliant moments and showed great defensive ability.
Croatia: Dominic Livakovic
Back in the 2018 World Cup, Dominik Livakovic sat on the bench cheering Subasic as Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subašić became Croatia's penalty hero against Denmark and Russia.
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Livakovic took over the mantle of Subahic and played an important role in the knockout stage in the victory over Japan and Brazil. In these two penalty shootouts, Livakovic faced eight penalties and made five successful saves.
Livakovic is arguably one of Croatia's most prominent players in this World Cup so far. Penalties aside, his brilliant saves in the face of attack were also eye-catching. In the gripping quarterfinals, Livakovic's actions helped Croatia suppress Neymar's attack, contributing 11 saves, setting a single-match record since the 2014 World Cup. Livakovic's outstanding performance against Brazil made him the 15th player in history to be awarded a 10/10 rating by the famous French sports newspaper L'Equipe. Zlatko Dalić, the current head coach of Croatia, said: "Dominic is a fantastic goalkeeper and he is at his best right now. He saved us in the fight against Brazil. ”
In a match between Croatia and Argentina on December 14, Argentine striker Julián Álvarez collided with Livakovic, who was yellow carded for a foul and the referee awarded Argentina a penalty that sparked controversy. But in this penalty, Livakovic was unable to stop Messi's goal.
Argentina: Emiliano Martínez
After the match between Argentina and the Netherlands, Emiliano Martinez lay on the ground with his limbs relaxed and tears of joy running down his cheeks. It was the second time he had been a hero of Argentina's penalty shootout, and this time at the World Cup.
At the World Cup in Qatar, Argentina upset their first match, losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia. While fans are worried about whether Argentina will not qualify, they can only play it on their backs and make no mistakes in the remaining matches. Argentina rallied and beat Australia and the Netherlands in the knockout round. The match between Argentina and the Netherlands was thrilling, and the penalty decided the winner. Of the Netherlands' five penalties, Martinez saved two penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis, sealing Argentina's victory.
Martinez defends with his own unique style, employing psychological tactics and chattering to pressure opposing penalty takers. In the semifinals of last year's Copa America, Argentina played Colombia, Martinez shouted to penalty taker Sanchez: "I'm sorry brother, but I'll stop you." "Then he saved Sanchez's penalty. Martinez went on to say to Mina: "You're laughing, but you're nervous. "In this way, he saved a total of three penalties in the penalty shootout. In the penalty with the Netherlands, Martinez also used this psychological trick.
Messi spoke highly of Martinez: "Amy is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Martinez lived up to Messi's expectations, and in the semi-final between Argentina and Croatia on December 14, Martinez kept hitting Croatia's shots in the second half of Croatia's all-out counterattack. In the end, Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 to reach the World Cup final. Martinez also became the first Villa player to reach the World Cup final.
France: Hugo Lloris
Whatever happens in Qatar, Hugo Lloris has already been written into French history.
France's match against England on December 10 was Hugo Lloris' 143rd appearance for his national team, surpassing Lilian Thuram as the player in French history. Lloris has also shown his value to the French team with his strength. In those 143 appearances, Lloris has a total of 62 clean sheets. In France's knockout match against England, England had a total of 16 shots on goal, eight of which were on target, but only one went around Loris and scored into the goal. Against his team-mates Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham at the club, Lloris also made a spectacular save.
As captain and goalkeeper, the experienced Lloris has added a little more calm to the talented French team, and he has been the backbone of the French defense. Loris continues to lead France into every tournament with the unwavering determination to win the World Cup in Russia four years ago, and his goal is to become the first player ever to lead the team to a back-to-back World Cup victory. "Hugo is the heart and soul of our team. He broke the player's record for appearances in France, which is a very amazing achievement. Hugo will go down in history and I'm very proud of him. France player Antoine Griezmann said.
Morocco: Yassin Bonou
So far, the story of Yassine Bounou and Morocco has been wonderful. The star goalkeeper helped Morocco make history as Morocco became the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
The 31-year-old has made several transfers during his career, including on loan at his current club Sevilla. But in this World Cup, Bonu is undoubtedly a regular for Morocco, and he is the only goalkeeper who has not scored so far in the match. One of the goals Bunu conceded in Morocco's group stage against Canada was an own goal scored by his own player Nayef Aguerd.
"From Bunu's body language, you can see that he trusts himself. Bunu is very confident, he believes in his abilities. Nigerian star Jeje Okocha said. In the round of 16 knockout match against Spain, Bunu performed very well. In the penalty shootout, he accurately predicted the direction of each penalty, and except for the first penalty hitting the post, Bonu saved all two penalties remaining. In Morocco's match against Portugal on 10 December, Bonu blocked Portugal's attack on several occasions, and Joao Felix's turning shot did not escape his defense. Bonu's outstanding performances earned him the best player of the match. However, Bunu's pride did not come from the honour, saying in a post-match interview: "I got this award because I have a lot of great players around me. All the people on the pitch were outstanding. When someone mentions us, they find that Morocco can be among the top teams and that's what I'm most proud of. ”
News and image sources: FIFA official website, Olympic website, beIN Sports, Fox Sports, Birmingham Live, The Athletic, some pictures from the Internet
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