QNA
Doha
The goalkeepers of the qualified teams for the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stole the limelight after their remarkable performance that played a major role in tipping the scales of their countries and leading them to the advanced stages.
The goalkeepers' creativity contributed greatly to the results their teams achieved, which serves as well-deserved proof that the goalkeeper constitutes half the team, or sometimes the entire team when facing strong teams with a rich history in the World Cup. Goalkeepers tip the scales by keeping the net clean, which delivers the team to the next round.
The goalkeepers of the semi-final teams: Morocco, France, Argentina and Croatia, showed impressive performances and played a significant role in their teams' advancements.
The most prominent of them is the Moroccan national team's goalkeeper Yassine Bounou who was a strong shield in all matches, greatly enabling his country to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time in history. The Moroccan goalkeeper succeeded in drawing a smile on the faces of all Arab fans and winning the title of the best player in the last two matches against Spain and Portugal.
Yassine Bounou contributed greatly to this historic qualification by keeping his net clean against the star-packed Portugal national team, in addition to Youssef En-Nesyri's winning goal.
The Moroccan squad will face its French counterpart on Wednesday, in an unprecedented Arab achievement.
The Moroccan goalkeeper also shone remarkably against Spain in the round of 16, blocking all of the opponent's attacks and attempts during the match and extra time. Also, Bounou saved the team from two penalty kicks, which then led to the exit of the Spanish national team, the 2010 champion.
Sevilla FC player Yassine Bounou has a rich professional career that started with the Moroccan Wydad AC, then join the Spanish League through being part of the reserve team at Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2012, to then move to Real Zaragoza on loan, and return to Atletico Madrid, before leaving in 2016 to Girona, and then joined Sevilla in 2019.
Yassine Bounou has played 50 international matches for the Moroccan national team since 2013 with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 participation being his second World Cup participation after he sat as a substitute in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia edition.
Bounou participated in 4 matches with the Moroccan national team, after he withdrew from the warm-up training before the Belgium match because he felt dizzy. Bounou only received a friendly fire goal during his team's match against Canada, while he successfully blocked 39 goals in the four matches.
In turn, France's experienced goalkeeper Hugo contributed to his country's qualification for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 semi-finals, as he managed to block 40 shots during five matches in the tournament.
Hugo Lloris achieved many records after his participation in yesterday's match against England in the quarterfinals, where he reached the 143rd match in his career with the French national team, as well as became the most participating player in international matches, surpassing Lilian Thuram.
Hugo Lloris also became the French squad's most representative player in major tournaments, with a record of 33 matches, surpassing Lilian Thuram, who played 32 matches. Lloris also became the French squad's most participating player in the World Cup, with 18 matches, beating Thierry Henry and Fabien Barthez.
Lloris is competing in the World Cup for the fourth time in his history after participating in 2010, 2014 and 2018 editions, having played a major role in winning the last edition, Russia 2018.
Lloris has a long professional career with Nice and Lyon in the French League, before his departure to Tottenham in 2012. He also has a long experience playing in the ranks of the French national team since 2008.
As for Croatia national team's goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, he also played an important role in his team's qualification to the World Cup semi-finals and has blocked 65 shots in five matches.
The Croatia goalkeeper participated in his team's five matches in the World Cup so far and received 3 goals from Canada, Japan and Brazil, however, he shone remarkably, especially in the Japan match in the round of 16, after blocking 3 penalties.
The Croatian goalkeeper blocked several chances in the Brazil match, which made him win the Man of the Match award, in his country's matches with Japan and Brazil.
Livakovic became the third goalkeeper to block four penalty kicks in a single edition of the World Cup, after Sergio Goycochea in 1990 and Danijel Subasic in 2018.
Croatia became the team to win the most penalty kicks in the history of the World Cup, standing at 4 times, a rank shared with Germany and Argentina.
Livakovic plays in the Croatian Dinamo Zagreb club, after having several experiences with lower teams in the local league, in addition to playing 39 matches for the Croatian national team since 2017.
For his part, the Argentine national team goalkeeper, Emiliano Mart?nez, also showed a distinguished performance in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Martinez is participating in the World Cup for the first time in his career, having played in 5 matches, in which he conceded 5 goals while succeeding in stopping 22 shots. He also played 40 international matches with Argentina.
The Argentinian goalkeeper excelled in deflecting a dangerous opportunity for Australia before the end of the round of 16 matches, and gave a good performance in the quarter-final meeting with the Netherlands, contributing to his team's qualification for the semi-finals.
Martinez has a good professional career, where he started his career among the ranks of the Argentina CA Independiente youth, then move to the reserve team at Arsenal in 2010. Martinez also played for the clubs of Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham, and Wolverhampton in England, then joined Getafe in Spain, before returning to Arsenal, followed by Reading FC, to then move to Aston Villa in the summer of 2020.
It is worth mentioning that Argentina will face Croatia in the semi-finals of the World Cup on Tuesday.
