The Parisian team’s goalkeeper stopped four red and black shots during the Intercontinental decision
The final of FIFA Intercontinental Cup had a hero for the conquest of Paris Saint-Germain: the goalkeeper Matvei Safonov. At 26, he arrived in the Parisian team a little over a season ago and took over as starter after the departure of Gianluigi Donnarumma and the injury of Lucas Chevalier.
During the penalty shootout this Wednesday, at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, in Al-Rayyan, against Flamengo, Safonov showed himself to be an excellent goalkeeper and stopped four shots. Luiz Araújo, Léo Pereira, Pedro and Saúl Ñíguez failed to defeat the Russian.
Safonov has taken the starting place in Paris Saint-Germain’s last four matches. Against Monaco, on November 29, the title Knight was the victim of a serious mistake and injured his ankle.
In the following matches, against Rennes, Athletic Bilbao, Metz and Flamengo, the Russian captured the PSG goal. During this period, he conceded goals in two draws and two wins.
But Safonov’s relationship with the PSG team has experienced some turbulence. A few months ago, the local press published information that Ukrainian defender Illia Zabarnyi did not want to live with his Russian colleague. Zabarnyi was signed from Bournemouth in the last window of the European version for 63 million euros (around R$400 million).
Zabarnyi is an active voice in the defense of Ukraine, which was the target of a Russian invasion nearly four years ago and has since faced war.
Safonov was trained at Krasnodar, a Russian club, and it was there that he caught the attention of the Parisians who signed him in June 2024. The goalkeeper has already defended the Russian team on several occasions. The last one was on FIFA Data in November.
About The Author
