They say you have to be angry to be a goalkeeper. Leather balls threw at you from your childhood all the way into the late 30’s – who wants that?
Of all the positions in football, the goalkeeper is the most scrutinized – if they make a mistake it is quite difficult to ignore. A defender can miss a tackle, a midfielder can place a pass, a striker can pull a shot wide, but a goalkeeper must be flawless.
There are rarely moments of real personal glory between the sticks, but that only makes the rare occasions all the more special. Just ask Francesco Toldo about his heroism at Euro 2000.
Three penalties in a match by Italy’s heroic goalkeeper! ??
They will not be much more iconic than the night Francesco Toldo took @azzurri to the Euro 2000 final … pic.twitter.com/U2TcpLgjnT
– 90min (@ 90min_Football) July 1, 2021
This is the story of Italy’s incredible semi-final win over the Netherlands on penalties, told by Azzurri’s goalkeeper that night.
Italy prepares to go up against a strong Dutch side playing at home / Graham Chadwick / Getty Images
“I know, it may seem strange, but if I think back to June 29, 21 years ago, the first thing that will come to mind is not football,” Toldo begins. “I would get married a week later, when the European Championships were over.
“So to cope with the waiting time and relieve anxiety before the game, I spent a long time on the phone with my fiancée Manuela. There was a wedding to prepare and we had to arrange the tables. I must say it was great fun.
“I did not like retreats at all, they were my Achilles’ heel. Necessary, for heaven’s sake, because you have to go a day before events like Euro or the World Cup, to meet the team and the squad. Occupying the time at the retreat was very difficult for me, it I almost felt like a waste of time, reading books, watching movies, playing cards or playing billiards with my teammates.
“And then I studied the opponents. To understand how their penalties would be taken, I watched games on my computer and manually scrolled back and forth until the moment the ball was kicked. I not only focused on the technical aspect, I also tried to understand the nuances and the details – the psychological aspect of the kicker changes depending on when they kick the ball, and above all the importance of that penalty and that game.
Italy’s Euro 2000 squad was full of legends from the game / Shaun Botterill / Getty Images
“Sometimes the wait was really endless so you took long walks, you leave your room to find friends who had more emotions and more withdrawals …
“Dialogue was the basis of everything, because at most you could send a text message. Now it’s harder. Times have changed a lot and I have realized that telephones make children isolate themselves. But our team was always together.”
“The time had come. The Netherlands were waiting for us in the Amsterdam Arena. The stadium was full of incredible support from both sides. Such an attitude puts you off in a crazy way.
The Netherlands played at home / Graham Chadwick / Getty Images
“I went into the field like a lion. I was in a perfect moment in my life and my career, so I was very calm. Now I was used to entering the stadium like this after playing so many great games in The jersey of Fiorentina. Matches like this are great for every athlete to reach, not just football players. You have to make many sacrifices, and when you get to that level you are prepared in every aspect. There is nothing better than a semifinal in euros to prove who are you.
“The funny thing about the magic night is that the night before I thought it would be so it turned out. I was on the phone with Alberto, a dear friend of mine and we began to convince ourselves that it would go to punishment. And that I would save everything, which is why I had studied the opponents so intensely, even to imagine what direction they would take – “ok, that you go to the right, that you go to the left”.
“When the game started, we quickly went down to ten men [after Gianluca Zambrotta’s first half red card]. They missed their first two penalties – the course of the match was exactly as I expected. They were very strong. They played incredible football and always tried to keep possession.
Gianluca Zambrotta looks red / Ben Radford / Getty Images
“I said to myself, ‘we have to try to get to penalties and take it from there.’ Obviously a goalkeeper needs all the support from his teammates, from the attackers to the defenders, because he alone can do nothing. In football you need each other, but one thing is for sure – the goalkeeper can influence the result as a striker and during my career I realized that on days when I felt very good, it was still difficult for me to score goals …
“I was very focused. On evenings like this, focus is never lacking. The goal was in front of me. When you get to that point, with all the sacrifices you have made to get to Serie A and the national team, it’s hard to let it slip.
“At one point I said ‘shoot, shoot, so I can save them all.'”
Francesco Toldo?
?? Italy advanced to the EURO 2000 final against France when the Netherlands were eliminated on penalties for the fourth time in five major tournaments! #OTD 20 years ago ⏪ @azzurri pic.twitter.com/Pk2J9CA7zU
– UEFA EURO 2020 (@ EURO2020) 29 June 2020
“I had saved many punishments in my career, and it was thanks to faith.
“When I was in the 21st century, for example, I saved Claude Makelele’s penalty in the European Championships in 1994, which then made it possible for us to continue Italian traditions. It was a fantastic time full of success for the youth teams and won three in a row. titles 1992, 1994 and 1996.
“1994 was my turn. I joined the team to Stefano Visi from Sambenedettese, while I was my first year with Fiorentina in Serie B. I joined the tournament and I was ready to explode. The physicist helped me a lot, but even but then I was not afraid of anything.
“There was a lot of quality there – we met Zinedine Zidanes France in the semi-final and Luis Figos Portugal in the final, people I was lucky enough to meet in my career. I saved a penalty in that final and we won.
“The time had come again. I had the same attitude with punishment as cycling up a mountain. You have to climb the pedals and own the climb. You have to get in the opponent’s head and own the punishment, get him to choose the side you want him to aim. If the opponent has control over his mental situation, luck takes over.
“The goalkeeper’s theaters should get into the attacker’s head. It’s psychological warfare, and that kind of attitude made me a winner that night. Times have changed now, you can no longer go up to the opponent and try to provoke him. You have to stop. the finish line, there is less dialogue and almost no contact.
Italy cheers on Toldo / Shaun Botterill / Getty Images
“Luigi Di Biagio, goal. Frank de Boer, saved. Gianluca Pessotto, goal. Jaap Stam, at.
“When Francesco Totti approached the place, I did not know he was going to Panenka. I think he just told Di Biagio. It was really funny. These are not planned or predictable things. I did not expect Edwin van der Sar either. Football is like that. When you least expect it, there’s a champion who chips it. Usually it’s done with a goalkeeper not thinking about it, but a goalkeeper must always expect it.
“It’s a nice insult. A kind of mockery and disrespect. You have to calculate that there is a possibility for this. If it never happened to me, then there is a reason for it. I do not think any opponent can, they know I can expect it. For example, I thought Alessandro Del Piero wanted to do it to me. I immediately went to him and said ‘no chipping’. By doing so I had already ruled out a Panenka. It is a psychological game between two parties .
“Patrick Kluivert, goal. Paulo Maldini, saved. Paul Bosvelt stepped up and knew if he missed that it was over.” “Okay, this one is going to the right, the one going to the left,” I had told Alberto. “Once you feel the side they are aiming for, you have to move with perfect timing. If you move too early, they still have time to change. .
Toldo saves Bosvelt penalty / Ben Radford / Getty Images
“Bosvelt, saved. We won.
“It was an unforgettable night. On the pitch, you always have to have courage and desire. When you have it, you can save all the penalties you want, not just in football but in life.
“To children, I always say that with conviction, talent and sacrifice, you can get there, your dreams are not so far away. They are right there, you just have to pick them up.”
