The strikers are the guys who dominate the Euro 2024 highlights, but the other rock-stars of the team are the goalies, slightly unhinged some may say, but they’ll put their body on the line for the cause.
Euro 2024 has provided plenty of goals so far and there will be lots more to come, but sometimes the defence comes out on top, and France’s 1-0 win over Belgium in the quarter final is a case in point, when goals were hard to come by.
It’s a tough job being a keeper, with the best players in the world firing their ammunition at you, and make a mistake and you could let in a crucial goal, while a striker’s mess is just a miss. The Number Ones don’t always get the credit they deserve; so let’s have a look at the SBOTOP picks of the goalies who have made a crucial difference to their teams so far.
Mike Maignan – France
The Euro 2024 betting tips continue to back Les Bleus and the headline grabbers are the front men, Kylian Mbappe in particular. But France barely squeezed past Belgium in the Round of 16 as Mighty Mike picked up his third clean sheet of the tournament so far. He didn’t have too much to do as Belgium sat back for much of the game and both teams only had two shots on target, and France’s goal came when Jan Vertonghen put through his own net.
The AC Milan star was a little more involved against Austria, keeping out three efforts and against the Netherlands he dealt with four shots on target. He hasn’t been the busiest of keepers but, in front of the best defence in the competition, Maignan is ever reliable as the last line, giving his defenders the confidence to play out from the back.
Giorgio Mamardashvili – Georgia
Everybody’s favourite underdogs Georgia wowed at the group stage before falling 4-1 to highly fancied Spain in their first ever foray into the knockout stages. And keeper Mamardashvili has been one of the stars of the competition, making a whopping 30 saves. He conceded just two goals at the group stage and the 23 year old Valencia star did well to keep it down to four against La Roja, who rained 13 shots down on his goal.
He has a big future ahead of him and Mamardashvili will be a central figure in Georgia’s immediate plans to entertain us again at the 2026 World Cup. And Los Ches will do well to hold onto their star as his stock rises.
Unai Simon – Spain
Only a Robin le Normand own goal beat Simon as Spain whacked Georgia 4-1, and that was the first goal La Roja conceded in the competition, beating Croatia, Italy and Albania to nil at the group stage. He’s 27 years of age now and, with a decade of top flight goalkeeping ahead of him Simon has deposed David de Gea as Spain’s number one. He’s one of the most sought after keepers in European football and the Athletic Bilbao stopper has had the most clean sheets in La Liga for two season’s running.
With 179 games for the Basque club and 43 caps for Spain he is the undisputed number one for club and country and, having saved a penalty in the 3-0 win over Croatia Simon has only been beaten by one of his own players!
Florin Nita – Romania
Nita made a couple of late and crucial saves for Romania in a 1-1 draw with Slovakia, and the Gaziantep keeper helped his team to the top of Group E as all four teams finished on four points. Previously starring for Sparta Prague, Nita was also named the 2021 Romanian Footballer of the Year, some achievement for a goalkeeper.
He really came to notice that year when he put in star performances against North Macedonia, Germany and Armenia in World Cup qualifying and he has been a fan’s favourite ever since. Nita will have his work cut out on Tuesday night when Romania meet the Netherlands in the Round of 16, though the Oranje have been misfiring somewhat, finishing third in Group G on four points.
We’ve seen the last off Mamardashvili and Nita may possibly be on his way out before too long, but I expect Maignan and Simon to be around for a while yet and both have a good chance of winning the Golden Gloves.
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