At times, Euro 2024 felt like one big promotional advert for goalkeepers. Their personal brands got overtime.
Header image: Mert Gunok, Telegraph India via X
Mikel Merino, Ollie Watkins, and, cruelly for England, Mikel Oyarzabal stole the highlights reel back for the outfielders in the semi-finals and final. Up to these pressure points, many of the crucial late interventions were by the men between the posts. The Euros have created a new storyboard, a narrative that has created gasps and goalkeeper appreciation like never before.
Talk of that 1970 Gordon Banks save was wheeled out globally after Turkey’s custodian Mert Gunok sprung and clawed away Christoph Baumgartner's last-gasp header in the quarter-final against Austria. Gelsenkirchen’s big screens gave the moment a cinematic feel. Slow motion replays are best.
Suddenly, Gunok was not an anonymous veteran but a Banksy piece of art. He celebrated the save with teammates and turned to the crowd behind the goal, reminding us all that stopping is just as emotional as scoring. His father claimed that divine intervention was at work to prevent the equaliser. How? This was skill of the very highest order from the Besiktas player.
The goalkeepers in the tournament have simply refused to take a back seat, timing their interventions for maximum dramatic effect. They’ve even had the rub of the green, although some would have you believe they are over-protected. Remember the names who have stood up and shown up.
When Yann Sommer dived under Robert Andrich’s shot against the Germans in the group stage, he was bailed out by Jamal Musiala’s foul in the build-up. Had it gone the other way, his world view would have remained unaffected. As a keen photographer, Sommer takes pictures of his best and worst moments. Keeping it real has something going for it.
Making the last mistake of the game is going to happen anyway at some point. Sommer is a man who will not be defined by just the dive, save or statistics. In fact, opening his website, now offline, might lead one to believe he is the Roger Federer of football. He would have surely been on the front cover of GQ if Switzerland had won the Euros.
“To be fully present and ready at any moment is the essence of a goalkeeper. In Sommer’s case, it is also the core of his personality, making him a truly authentic figure,” declares the personal blurb. He is a keeper; a father; a musician. He is a fully-rounded human.
Goalkeepers are so often defined as outliers, a breed apart, a lonesome dove. It’s almost as if they can only be seen through this narrow prism of eccentricity or oddity. Bart Verbruggen’s previous starring role was to rotate with Jason Steele at Brighton to ease into the Premier League. At the Euros, we have seen the real Bart. He’s become a cool kid.
Verbruggen made 17 saves, most notably keeping out the inspired Turks right at the end. If he was a 21-year-old striker, they would be drooling over him. The Seagulls’ stopper is the youngest custodian in the Euros for 60 years and in his own way, he’s been as good as Lamine Yamal. That point-blank stop from Semih Kilicsoy in injury-time was a stunner. Didn’t he enjoy that too?
Golden Glove winner Mike Maignan is the best sequel to Hugo Lloris in the French goal.
While Hugo was a little understated, his successor has always had something about him. ‘Magic Mike’ flagged himself up from youth days as a straight talker among footballing royalty. As a 17-year-old, he once told Zlatan Ibrahimović that he was “a sh.. striker”.“It’s all good,” Ibrahimovic responded. “I like your personality.”
Maignan previously tweeted about IFAB’s draconian new rules. “New IFAB penalty rules 2026: Goalkeepers must have their backs to the shot. If the penalty is saved, the opposition gets an indirect freekick,” he posted after the keeper’s box of dirty tricks was raided.
He rose to the sarcasm again after saving Robert Lewandowski’s spot-kick during the 1-1 draw with Poland only for it to be retaken for coming off his line. A post on Instagram read "as the attacker begins his 87th feint in his run-up”. Maignan is the stand-up comedian and a superlative keeper rolled into one.
Jordan Pickford has his idiosyncrasies. There’s the exaggerated dives, as if he’s just making sure that the goalposts haven’t been widened behind him; the leaps upward, even when the ball is sailing over. There’s the water bottle. The media love the water bottle with the penalty homework.
This is all part of Pickfordmania, which is not a fan club, but more like a running narrative on his colourful body language. The Everton goalkeeper is the brand that keeps on shouting. He doesn’t do soft sell.
When the first half of the final wasn’t exactly box to box action, the BBC commentary mentioned his screams at the back four to push up. They did and Spanish crosses floated harmlessly out or were caught. It was oddly compelling.
The 30-year-old was even more front and centre in the second half, denying Yamal, punching clear and keeping this global event alive as a contest. Pickford always rises to the occasion in an England shirt. He’s there, making the mundane watchable by just being.
The last word went to Unai Simon.
