'Titan stoppers' give Portugal, Spain and France shootout edge
- By Reuters -
- Jul 04, 2024
Portugal, Spain and France have the goalkeepers most likely to be stars of any shootouts in Euro 2024, according to a penalties analysis ahead of the quarter-finals, while England and Turkey might be short on saves if spot-kicks are the decider.
A performance profile of the tournament’s eight remaining first-choice keepers compiled for Reuters by goalkeeper-specific intelligence firm Goalkeeper xG, opens new tab shows Portugal’s Diego Costa is the standout stopper of penalties in top-flight matches, saving 32.1% of the 28 he has faced.
His record was stellar even before his three consecutive saves in Monday’s shootout against Slovenia, but he is not alone, with Spain’s Unai Simon and France’s Mike Maignan stopping an impressive 26% and 23.7% of on-target spot-kicks, having faced roughly double the number of the younger Costa.
On average, goalkeepers in top-flight matches save 18% of on-target penalties, according to Goalkeeper xG, which provides data intelligence services to support recruitment, performance and development of goalkeepers, including determining their financial value.
When it comes to shootouts, Porto’s Costa and AC Milan’s Maignan have both saved 42.9% of penalties, closely followed by Athletic Bilbao’s Simon on 38.1%.
Netherlands’ Bart Verbruggen has saved one in four during shootouts, although he has only faced 24 penalties overall, while Germany’s Manuel Neuer has stopped about 23% of the 119 he has faced in regular time and shootouts.
The other three quarter-finalists could be at a disadvantage, however, with their keepers below the model’s saving average.
Switzerland’s Yann Sommer, a veteran of three Euros shootouts who saved Kylian Mbappe’s penalty in the last edition to eliminate France, has stopped 17.5% of his 137 penalties.
England’s Jordan Pickford has saved 16.9% of 77 from the spot. Pickford, who famously attached players’ penalty patterns to his water bottle, has fared slightly better in shootouts at 19.4%.
Turkey’s Mert Gunock has a success rate of 16.3% from 49 penalties, stopping just one in 10 during shootouts.