The 2022 World Cup in Qatar came to an end after a spectacular final between Argentina and France. Instead of Messi leading Argentina to the championship, it was the Argentinean team that guarded Messi to win the Cup. The biggest contributor to the success of Messi was the goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who made a crucial save in the 123rd minute of the final against an almost certain goal from France, and Martínez almost single-handedly saved Argentina's dream and Messi's honor. The final Golden Glove award also proved what he once said that he would contribute even his life to make Messi get the World Cup.
However, Martínez is not the only goalkeeper who has performed superhumanly well in this year's World Cup, and I would like to share with you some of the goalkeepers that I personally admire.
Although Mexico lost in the group stage by one goal difference, we can't ignore one person, that is Ochoa, who is known as Mexico's Wu Zhenyu. 37-year-old Ochoa is already representing Mexico in the World Cup for the fifth time, and as always, he is the most reassuring backing for Mexico. In the first round of the group stage against Poland, a teammate committed a foul in the penalty area in the 56th minute, which was confirmed by VAR and awarded a twelve-yard penalty kick to Poland. Facing one of the world's strongest centers, Robert Lewandowski, Ochoa first made a move to the right, and then quickly jumped to the left side, and calmly pounced on Lewandowski's shot, and finally drew 0-0 with Poland, preventing the opponent from taking all three points.
Because of his age, this may be Ochoa's last World Cup, and it's a shame that he didn't lead Mexico into the top eight of the World Cup team's best-ever record, but it also makes people look forward to the next generation of Mexican goalkeepers, and of course I hope that we can see Ochoa's figure in the next World Cup, to continue the ageless legend of the Mexican goalkeeper.
Compared to Ochoa's 12-yard penalty from Lewandowski, Szczesny's performance against Argentina in the group stage was even more impressive. In the 38th minute of the match, Argentina had a great opportunity to take a 12-yard penalty, which was naturally given to Messi. Facing the most powerful player in the world in recent years, Szczesny didn't give in to the momentum, standing in front of the goal line with his expression and gestures seemed to be telling his teammates that I am here, don't worry, and then he did fulfill his promise, beautifully pouncing on Messi's twelve-yard penalty. Although the match ended in a 2-0 loss to eventual champions Argentina, the margin could have been even wider without Szczesny's nine saves in the match. Poland played 4 matches in the World Cup, and Szczesny made 21 saves in total, so it can be said that he did his best for the team.
At 32 years old, there is still room for a goalkeeper to play a few more years, and if he stays healthy and doesn't slip too much, I think we might still see Szczesny guarding the Polish goal at the next WC.
Compared to Szczesny, Bounou, a year younger, was far less famous before this World Cup, but after this World Cup, Bounou has become one of the most famous goalkeepers in the world. This World Cup Morocco with solid defense in the quarterfinals before the opponents have never been broken through the door, the only goal lost is against Canada when the oolong goal, the back group of defense is certainly important, but the face of Croats, Spain, Portugal, these world powers will inevitably be broken through the team, but Bounou in every defense was broken through the opponents in the last blocked the last shot, and then show that signature smile back to the opponents, especially the opponents, and the opponents. Especially
semifinals
In the penalty shootout against Spain, Bounou's smile after he miraculously saved Spain's second and third consecutive penalties was a classic.
