Mike Maignan has long spent a quiet evening on Sunday on the lawn of the Stade de France. While the Blues were dominating, the tricolor goalkeeper did not have the slightest shot to be stopped for 120 minutes, having to settle for a few deep balloons to negotiate. His evening nevertheless took a completely different turn with the penalty shootout which ended the debates between France and Croatia.
Four days after stopping the penalty from to Split, the former Parisian was indeed the real hero of this session. And Dayot Upamecano, author of the decisive shot, was not mistaken, the Bavarian defender rushing towards his goalkeeper after having offered qualification to his family. The Guyanese had set the tone by stopping the atmosphere of Martin Baturina's attempt and forced Franjo Ivanovic to be pulled over. Insufficient, however, to allow the Blues to complete the case after the first five shooters since Jules Koundé and Théo Hernandez had gone to the fault.
A first for a guardian of the Blues
Never mind, Mike Maignan did it against Josip Stanisic, the Sixth Croatian shooter, Dayot Upamecano therefore ending the work. “When we have Mike, we leave with an advantage in penalties”, could launch Kylian Mbappé after the match.
“It is one of the best guards in the world, it's a plus for us on penalties. He gives off something that makes it even more difficult for the shooter ”embraced Aurélien Tchouameni.
Two years after Doha's trauma and the shots on goal against Argentina, the Blues seem to have driven out their demons. Because this qualification for penalties comes nine months after that against Portugal at the Euro. Long deficit in the exercise, the French team is now in balance, with five qualifications – all in the quarterfinals – against five defeats. And Mike Maignan has already entered history.
The native of Cayenne is indeed the first goalkeeper in the history of the French team to win two shooting sessions with the Blues. Until then, Joël Bats, during the 1986 World Cup against Brazil, Bernard Lama, in 1996 against the Netherlands at the Euro, and Fabien Barthez, against Italy, during the 1998 World Cup, had only won one
