France produced a great attacking performance to overturn a two-goal deficit against Croatia and level their Nations League tie on Sunday, but it was keeper Mike Maignan who stole the spotlight with his penalty heroics in a 5-4 shootout victory.
Maignan made two saves and saw one Croatian attempt fly over the bar to maintain his impressive record on penalties with France, becoming the only France keeper to win two shootouts.
“We know that with Mike, we start a shootout with an advantage. He makes a difference,” captain Kylian Mbappé said.
Maignan was on the bench when France lost the 2022 World Cup final to Argentina on penalties, with keeper Hugo Lloris unable to make a save in the shootout.
Sunday’s game was a breath of fresh air for Maignan, who has been struggling with Milan lately.
“The goal is big so the first thing is to take as much space as possible on the line,” the AC Milan goalie said. “Then it’s a psychological battle with the shooter, you have to get into their head.”
France face Spain, who also went through on penalties against the Netherlands on Sunday, in the Nations League semi-finals in Stuttgart on June 5.
In the other semifinal of a juicy last four, Germany will face Portugal.
Information from Reuters was used in this story.
