Former Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga believes blaming Gigio Donnarumma is the ‘easiest thing’ while others’ errors, such as Nicolò Zaiolo’s foul leading to North Macedonia’s equaliser are not talked about enough.
Donnarumma is under pressure following Italy’s 1-1 draw against North Macedonia on Saturday, but former Inter and Italy keeper Walter Zenga is among the ex-Azzurri players defending the PSG star.
“Gigio made an error and he’s aware of that because when you concede from a free kick at the near post, you always have something to regret. However, things on the pitch are different from what we see on TV,” Zenga told Corriere dello Sport.
“How many errors did Gigi Buffon make in his career? If we closely search for them, we’d see many. The more you play, the more errors you make, it’s the simple truth.
“Take Mike Maignan, one of the best keepers we have in Serie A. He made a couple of errors last season and the same goes for André Onana,” he continued.
“There isn’t a role with the same responsibility, a goalkeeper is always exposed to criticism and the draw in Skopje proves it.
“We are talking about Donnarumma’s error, but how about Zaniolo? He was naive to commit a foul leading to their equaliser. Do we want to talk about it? Then, of course, the easiest thing is to say that the goalkeeper could have saved it.”
Donnarumma conceded from a free-kick at the near post on Saturday, but Zaniolo had committed the foul leading to North Macedonia’s equaliser.
To be fair, Italian media had blamed Zaniolo for his foul in the aftermath of Italy’s draw in Skopje although Donnarumma is the biggest talking point in the Peninsula at the moment especially because Italy do not seem to be lacking quality replacements, starting from Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
The Azzurri face Ukraine in a key Euro 2024 qualifying fixture tomorrow and Gigio is expected to start between the sticks although he may face a bad reception from the San Siro crowd due to his decision to leave Milan as a free agent in 2021.
“I know Donnarumma, he will be able to control emotions and it’s much better to be insulted than ignored,” insisted Zenga.
“Donnarumma is 24 and has already played more than 300 games. He’ll play twice as much and we’ll stop talking about the error in Skopje.”
The entire team stopped playing in front of him. Collective blame.
Zaniolo should not be on the national team. Full stop. He has done nothing to deserve inclusion.