Wojciech Szczesny finally conceded against Argentina, but he shined again, denying Lionel Messi from the penalty spot. Prior to Alexis Mac Allister’s goal, he hadn’t been beaten in 680 minutes in his last matches with Poland and Juventus, DAZN reports.
He became just the third goalie in history to save two PKs in the span of three World Cup games. Only USMNT star Brad Friedel and his compatriot Jan Tomaszewski had done it in the 2002 and 1974 editions respectively. He had previously parried away Salem Al-Dawsari’s attempt in the clash with Saudi Arabia.
Not coincidentally, Poland advanced to the knockout stage thanks to a better goal difference, which hung in the balance until the stoppage time of the other Group C contest. With his recent interventions, Szczesny has saved 26 out of 86 penalties against him, as he has become a specialist in the last few seasons.
The 32-year-old kept his national team afloat as Argentina laid siege throughout the tilt. He has pulled off 18 saves in three World Cup appearances, including a few spectacular ones. He has been more crucial than Robert Lewandowski up until this point.
Szczesny spoke about his performance and the recent events at Juventus to Rai (via TuttoSport).
“I’ve been lucky twice on PKs. There’s some work behind it, but you also need that to stop Messi. The World Cup is the best and experiencing these moments is wonderful. Sitting back won’t be enough to advance in the next round, but we’ll try.”
“I’m very sorry because Andrea Angelli is a great man. However, football life moves along, and we’ll give our best despite what happened in the last few days.”
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