Gigio Donnarumma played a key role in Italy’s 2-0 win over Hungary with several crucial saves in the second half, getting his revenge after a tough spell for club and country.
The 23-year-old was the best player on the pitch last night, according to Italian sports papers. La Gazzetta said the ex-Milan star seemed ‘supernatural’ while Tuttosport labelled the PSG shot-stopper as ‘phenomenal.’
Gigio produced at least three-four crucial saves to deny the hosts in the second half, helping Italy secure a 2-0 win victory and win their Nations League group.
To some extent, Donnarumma has gotten his revenge after a tough spell for club and country, especially in the second part of 2021-22.
The Italy international hit the headlines in March when he cost PSG the qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals in the second leg against Real Madrid.
Everyone would remember him giving away the ball too easily at the Bernabeu, leading to Karim Benzema’s first goal of the night. Gigio still believes he had been fouled, but the referees’ verdict was different while PSG were once again eliminated early in Europe’s elite competition.
There were more similar errors also with the national team. Fast forward to June, Donnarumma once again didn’t look comfortable with the ball at his feet and gave away one goal in Italy’s 5-1 loss to Germany.
He was even accused of being arrogant after a post-match interview with Rai Sport where he appeared not to take responsibility for his mistake.
Surely, competition with Keylor Navas at PSG didn’t help the Azzurri star last term and Christophe Galtier’s decision to give him a starting spot at the Parc des Princes for 2022-23 seems to have helped Gigio, boosting his self-confidence.
His return to San Siro last week was also not as shocking as his first game in Milan as a PSG player. Last year, he was reduced to tears due to boos from his ex-fans. This time around, he was applauded by the Meazza crowd, who Gigio thanked on Instagram after the game.
His MOTM performance against Hungary confirms Italy can rely on one of the best goalkeepers in the world. There were tough moments in the past and, perhaps, there will be more in the future, but Donnarumma has proved to have the personality needed to react and get his revenge on haters.
@lorebetto
My God are ye still going on about this guy.
Phenomarumma.
Headline writers ain’t what they used to be.
But he stood and watched Macedonia shoot from far out
Revenge? Italy is out of the WC in part because he was slow as a snail in the Macedonia shot. One good match does not erase all that. He is not that good anyway
Putuco!
it was an out of this world strike on a night when Italy could’ve scored fifteen!
One match? The guy was spotless in the euro and won player of the tournament! We wouldn’t be euro champs without gigio! As for the world cup – got to move on
Dollaruma being Dollaruma.
Nothing has changed. The kid plays good for a while and then flops.
He’s good at stopping stuff with his hands. He’s bad with his feet and getting play restarted (see Maignan for an example of quality in those departments). Overall he’s good but he’s not great. If he gets better with his feet and decision making, he could be great. This ignores his qualities as a person, which were displayed with the way he handled his departure from Milan.