“Maignan’s Penalty Shoot-out Victory Excites France and Provokes Milan Fans. Obsessed with Magic Mike.”

If the ball had entered, nothing would have changed, considering the goal lead (4) and the playing time of the match (95′). However, Mike Maignan, after a game spent in pleasant relaxation, decided to leave a mark not only on the victory of his France – so as not to dirty the round four to zero – but also on personal performance in the context of a game for him decidedly special: last night at the Stade de France was in fact his first outing in blue following Deschamps’ official investiture as the national team’s number one goalkeeper.

In triumph

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In short, something strong was needed to celebrate the event, and that something materialized at the end of injury time, when Mariani whistled for the penalty spot for the Netherlands. On the spot Depay, one with rather polite feet who however didn’t exactly kick the perfect penalty: Mike read the trajectory, threw himself on the right side, blocked and then held back again on the rebound. Saint Denis at his feet, standing ovation at the end of a triumphal match, just as triumphal was the party reserved for him by his companions. Final postcard from Paris: the Rossoneri embrace from Giroud, with which Mike raised his gaze and index finger towards the sky, between religion and a thought for someone who is no longer here.

Victim list

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A chronicle that instantly poured into the Milan social media world, flooded with a surge of pride, admiration (“this is our goalkeeper”) and regrets (“ah, if only he had been there in winter…”). Maignan drives the Rossoneri people crazy with enjoyment and the aptitude for saving penalties – another factor that has contributed to quickly erasing the memory of Donnarumma in people – is one of those things that sends exaltation to full scale. With the Devil’s shirt on, he said no from eleven meters twice: the first useless, but prestigious, against Salah in Liverpool-Milan 3-2 in September 2021; the second, fundamental, in Sassuolo-Milan 0-0 last August, when he gave Berardi a displeasure. Ah, there’s also a save for Bale in a summer Real-Milan match in August 2021. Statistics show that Mike in his career – therefore between club and national team (official matches only) – saved 13 penalties out of 44 attempts and, in short , the percentage is decidedly important: 29.5%. In front of him, almost one in three players are wrong and throughout his football life Maignan took the pleasure of spoiling the day for people like Mbappé, Modric, Radamel Falcao, Suarez. Yesterday it was Depay’s turn, and in this case it’s a déjà vu: Mike had already stopped the Dutchman in a 2018 Lille-Lyon match.