IT WAS THE save that sent Turkiye into the quarter finals of Euro 2024 and left Austria heartbroken.
At the final whistle, everyone else just seemed to be in awe at goalkeeper Mert Gunok’s heroics to deny Christoph Baumgartner what appeared to be a certain goal in the 94th minute.
But how did he pull off the save of the tournament and, at least at this stage, the moment of the whole competition?
Former League of Ireland goalkeeper Barry Murphy breaks down the five key decisions Gunok made to execute the save.
Decision 1
It’s so impressive because of the amount of split second decisions he has to make. It’s the 94th minute of the game and a ball is coming into the box. Everyone will want their goalkeeper to come and take it. To be commanding. As a goalkeeper that is your first instinct too, especially a ball coming into the vicinity of the six-yard box. You come out and take the ball or clear the ball and you’ve killed the game, it’s over. You’ve won the game for your team.
But almost straight away he realises he can’t do that. He doesn’t panic and do it anyway because it’s what people expect a goalkeeper should do. He’s assessed the flight of the ball and begun to move across the line and reposition himself. He’s also still assessing the speed of the ball and the likely connection that will be made.
He has already realised the traffic in front of him so instead back his judgement and begins to anticipate what will happen so he can trust his reaction time.
Decision 2
He sees two defenders and Baumgartner incoming, add the flight of the ball and this makes his mind up to not close the angle. Goalscorers are told to head it back towards it came from and into the ground to make it more difficult, he knows this, so he holds position.
He can’t come out into the box but he also realises that he can’t narrow the angle. Again, every part of you probably wants to get as close to the striker coming in as possible but if he starts to do that then he will have no reaction time at all. That will make it easier to score.
By staying put that buys him milliseconds that will prove crucial.
FT: 🇦🇹 1-2 🇹🇷
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 3, 2024
Shades of Gordon Banks in 1970 as Mert Gunok makes a worldly save to deny Christoph Baumgartner a leveller - but Turkey held on to advance to the quarter-finals #EURO2024
📺 @rte2 @rteplayer https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7
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Decision 3
What do you expect to see from your goalkeeper at the point where the ball is dropping out of the air? Make yourself big. Spread yourself. The old Peter Schmeichel star jump. No.
Look at Gunok just as Baumgartner is about to connect. He holds a neutral hand position at his hips, by his midriff, as the ball is set to land. They’re not too low and not too high and this means he can cater for getting to different types of finishes – be it a direct header at him, a low one either side, anything above head height or one into the ground and up.
It ends up being the last type and that is when some of his physical abilities come into play.
Decision 4
The anticipation and judgement of assessing Baumgarter’s own position and likelihood of what he will do makes his mind up about his own spring. It’s so important. His athleticism and speed of thought to then whip his legs out from under him instead of springing out to dive to it.
By taking a step and diving to it you’re slowing yourself down and getting your legs out of the way. This means he can stretch his back and arm without losing time. If you watch it back, he doesn’t land too far away from where he initially jumps.
Decision 5
His hand manipulation to flick the ball with an open palm. He keeps his hands flat instead of a typical horizontal palm. His hands also don’t face the play, he turns them slightly. This is because he had decided already that he’s going to flick this ball over the bar or at least high and wide as soon as it bounces. If he kept his hands too closed he might knock it back into trouble and there’s a chance then it comes back off a defender and in.
Schmeichel made a similar save for Manchester United v Rapid Vienna in the 1990s but it was much lower. He has made that decision because he’s weighed up the scenario at that stage of the game.
To read the height, direction and bounce speed of the ball off a wet pitch in milliseconds was simply incredible. Add to that it’s the last kick of the game, it’s one of the best saves I’ve seen.
Barry Murphy is a retired goalkeeper who made over 300 League of Ireland appearances for Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and St Patrick’s Athletic.
