Standing at the foot of the France bus parked in the basement of Hamburg’s Volsparkstadion, Didier Deschamps was smiling the horse-like smile that his prominent jaws allow him to while chatting with a member of the French team. Minutes earlier, he had been delighted in the press room that his boys were allowing him to direct his fourth semi-final (World Cup 2018 and 2022, Euro 2016 and 2024) with a Pyrrhic record. Only two games won against Austria (1-0) and Belgium (1-0), three goals scored, two of them own goals (Austrian Wöber and Belgian Verthongen), and one from a penalty, the one scored against Poland (1-1) by Kylian Mbappé.
These poor records have put France on the same path as Greece, European champions in 2004, even with worse numbers than that epic team coached by the German Otto Rehaggel. The Greeks scored four goals in the first phase and won the quarter-finals (France), the semi-final (Czech Republic) and the final (Portugal) by 1-0. The big difference is that Deschamps has the squad considered to be the best in this Euro.
This France, which is dry of play and goals, is not supported by Mbappé or Griezmann. They are kept in the tournament by their concrete midfield and the defence led by goalkeeper Mike Maignan (29 years old), who has become the most transcendent player of the blue and the best goalkeeper in the tournament. His percentage of saves (93%) is the highest, despite the fact that he is the second goalkeeper who has had to make the most saves (16), only behind the Georgian Mamardashvili (31). “The defence is solid. And then there is Maignan, who saves us when the defence doesn’t do the job. We are solid, we just need to score goals, but they will come,” said centre-back Saliba, another of the standouts for a France team that is not involved in attacking play.
The only goal Maignan has conceded was a penalty after stopping Lewandowski’s first shot as his foot was not behind the line at the time of the shot. The Milan goalkeeper considered that the little stop Lewandowski’s foul was illegal because he took too long to take the shot and had to move beforehand. After visiting the referee in his dressing room to ask for an explanation, the Milan goalkeeper took to social media to criticise the rules that make his profession’s work increasingly difficult. “New rule from 2026! The goalkeeper must turn his back on the penalty taker when taking a penalty. If he saves it, the penalty taker will be awarded an indirect free kick,” he wrote sarcastically.
Although introverted, Maignan has emerged as one of France’s leaders in the dressing room and on the pitch. He had a difficult time of it because he had to replace Hugo Lloris, the captain who lifted the 2018 World Cup and who retired from the national team after the Qatar World Cup. He also had a difficult time at Milan when he arrived as a replacement for Donnarumma after the latter left for PSG in the summer of 2021. The Italian goalkeeper had just been named the best player at the European Championship after winning the championship with Italy. Coming from Lille, who snatched the Ligue 1 title from PSG with Messi, Neymar and Mbappé, he was also fundamental in the Scudetto which Milan won in 2022. His triumph with Lille was a small revenge because he had been trained in the PSG youth academy and left without anyone caring.
Maignan was a personal bet of Milan’s legendary technical directors, Paolo Maldini and Daniele Massaro. The latter tells his inner circle that Maignan lives for and by football. Massaro says that Maignan is capable of calling him on the phone late at night to find out about issues such as the new San Siro stadium and the problems that exist in getting its construction started.
In Italy, Maignan made a statement in the fight against racism and xenophobia last January. After hearing the monkey sound twice at the Friuli stadium in Udine, he left the field and his teammates followed him. The first time he heard the offensive onomatopoeia, he turned to the stands and stared at the sector that had emitted the reprehensible insult. The second time, he headed for the dressing rooms and managed to have a Serie A match stopped for the first time in history due to racism in the stands. “They were imitating monkey sounds,” explained Maignan, “something like that should not exist in the world of football and I had to react,” he justified. The match was resumed later, but Maignan’s abandonment and the harsh letter he published on social media made a deep impression. “It was not the player who was attacked. It was the man. He is the father of the family. It is not the first time this has happened to me. There have been press releases, advertising campaigns, protocols and nothing has changed,” he complained before launching into a general criticism: “The entire system has to assume its responsibility. The perpetrators, because it is easy to act in a group, in the anonymity of a stand. The spectators who were in the stands, who saw everything, heard everything but preferred to remain silent, are accomplices. The Udinese club, who only spoke of an interruption of the match, as if nothing had happened, are accomplices. The authorities and the prosecutor, with everything that is happening, if you do nothing, you will also be accomplices.”
The letter caused a stir in Italy and consolidated Maignan as one of those leaders who speak little, but when they do, justify their status.
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