2023-06-01 13:11:04
Bis repeat! History repeats itself happily for Yassine Bounou and Gonzalo Montiel. A few months after the World Cup in Qatar, where they had distinguished themselves, one under the tunic of the Argentine selection, the other under that of Morocco, the two players were the great architects of the victory of Seville (1- 1, 4-1 tab) in the Europa League final against AS Roma on Wednesday night. Ordinary heroes.
Coming into play in the 95th minute of the match – in place of captain Jesus Navas -, Gonzalo Montiel did not need to spend long minutes on the lawn of the Puskas Arena in Budapest to be decisive and enter the history of Seville. Five months after scoring the penalty for victory with Argentina in the World Cup final against France, the defender was again the liberator of his team on Wednesday. With an inside right foot, he scored the 4th and penalty shootout.
The world champion, however, had to do it twice before he could raise his arms to the sky. His first attempt had indeed been repelled by Rui Patricio with a superb trigger… But the goalkeeper not having both feet on the line at the time of the strike, the referee gave him a second chance. That he did not let slip with a judicious counterattack after deciding to change sides.
A nice nod to history also experienced by Yassine Bounou. Hero of Morocco during the campaign at the World Cup with a historic semi-final, the goalkeeper was again authoritarian and – almost – impassable on his line. If he could not do anything on the cross shot from the left of Dybala which allowed Rome to open the scoring in the first period (0-1), Bounou made two high-class saves in front of Abraham (67th) and Belotti (84th) to snatch the extension.
He was then flawless in the penalty shootout. After repelling Mancini’s attempt (2-1) with his foot, Yassine Bounou deflected – slightly – Ibanez’s shot on the post. After eliminating Spain in the round of 16 of the World Cup, in a penalty shootout during which he was not looking for a ball in the back of the net, “Bono”, his nickname, therefore returned That.
“I have lived many moments like this, I think you have to be very calm in moments like this, confided after the final the Moroccan. And your teammates, they calm you down, they give you security (…). This year there have been a lot of emotions, between the World Cup and everything, and today sometimes your head is spinning and you don’t analyze exactly what is happening, so you have to take things with serenity. . A recipe that he masters perfectly. “Today’s stops remind me of those of the World Cup. I offer this trophy to Moroccan supporters and my family! “, concluded the hero of Seville.
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