LAST LINE OF DEFENCE

From jaw-dropping saves to glaring mistakes, this edition of the European Championship has seen all aspects of goalkeeping. HT looks at the custodians, those who have shone and those who have floundered.

MANUEL NEUER

He has been voted as the world’s best goalkeeper for the last three years and the Bayern Munich shot stopper proved his value again when he stopped two spot kicks in Germany’s shootout win over Italy in the quarterfinals. First he denied Leonardo Bonucci, who had got past him in regulation time to level the scores for the Azzuri, and then denied Matteo Darmian. While he has been caught in awkward positions because of his propensity to play as a sweeper, it helps German defenders play high up the pitch than some other teams.

MICHAEL MCGOVERN

While the Northern Ireland goalkeeper is still clueless about where he will play in the coming season, he did well to save his team from embarrassing scorelines in their defeats.

He was solid in the opener against Poland. Ukraine came close several times but he stood tall as Michael O’Neill’s men picked up a vital 2-0 win.

The highlight will be his efforts in the defeat against Germany. McGovern pulled off an incredible eight saves against the world champions, restricting the margin of defeat to 0-1, ensuring they finished with a goal difference of zero.

GIANLUIGI BUFFON

The 38-year-old’s inability to get down on time and failure to parry Jonas Hector’s decisive penalty will haunt him forever. The defeat to Germany ended Italy’s dream run in the tournament.

However, till that moment the veteran keeper hadn’t put a foot wrong, marshalling his defence with elan.

HUGO LLORIS

to deny Romania’s Bogdan Stancu from point-blank range in the early minutes of France’s opening match to set the tone. He made an instant impact Since then, he hasn’t looked back. He made some key saves in the second half against Iceland to make sure they didn’t mount a comeback.

THIBAUT COURTOIS

The Belgium custodian made some great saves throughout the tournament but was hapless when the Welsh cut them down. It was largely due to a makeshift defence rather than his mistakes.

After an opening game loss to Italy, the lanky custodian kept three clean sheets and during that period showed why he is bracketed among the top custodians in the world.