Italy lost to Spain in the Nations League semifinal and Gigio Donnarumma lives one of the most difficult evenings of his career. Overwhelmed by the whistles of his former Milan fans at San Siro, the blue goalkeeper felt the blow on an emotional level. A human story that moved the Iberian captain Sergio Busquets to pity.
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The evening of 6 October 2021 will remain a bitter memory for Gigio Donnarumma, whistled loudly at his first match at San Siro since last summer he left the Milan at no cost to get married to the PSG. A pain on a personal level that is added to defeat against Spain in the first Nations League semi-final who interrupted the Italian national team’s record streak of 37 games without ever losing. The 22-year-old goalkeeper from Stabia knew well that the risk of being received badly was high, even considering the responses to his last post on Instagram before the match, in which several Rossoneri fans had made him understand that he would have a shot for him at the Meazza. However, hearing those piercing whistles live is something that hurts, very badly. And it inevitably also affects performance.
Because we are talking about a young boy, very young, even in spite of an experience that peers of the same age dream of. And then when San Siro comes down for the whistles every time Gigio touches the ball, morale collapses under heels, securities collapse and we end up committing mistakes obviously children of an unsustainable mental condition. Even if you were elected best player of the European Championships just three months ago, even if you earn one million euros a month. The hatred of half the stadium – because there are also those who try to applaud, but are covered by the whistles – almost ends up taking material form in the 18 ‘of the first half, when – immediately after the goal of the Spanish advantage of Ferran Torres – Donnarumma clumsily lets a harmless ball escape that carom on the pole behind him.
At that moment Gigio is alone in the San Siro arena, with a pressure that has clearly become emotional crisis. And it is then that someone among the Spaniards realizes that something is happening that goes beyond a football match. AND Sergio Busquets, captain of the Red Furies, to realize the difficulty of Donnarumma: then he approaches him and makes him a gesture of human closeness, a pat, perhaps a word. Busquets on the pitch is a tough guy, with anthology fouls in his career, but he is also a true champion: that caress of the evening at San Siro proves it.
National, the squad of Italy for the Nations League: Azzurri at the Final Four
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