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Donnarumma on Why He Didn't Celebrate Winning Save vs. England: 'I Didn't Understand That We Had Won'

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma said that it took his teammates running toward him to realize his save had ended the Euro final.

Andrew Gastelum

Donnarumma on Why He Didn't Celebrate Winning Save vs. England: 'I Didn't Understand That We Had Won'
Donnarumma on Why He Didn't Celebrate Winning Save vs. England: 'I Didn't Understand That We Had Won' /

When Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made the game-winning save on Bukayo Saka's penalty to win the Euros, he walked off the field stoically, as if winning the European Championship was business as usual. As it turns out, Donnarumma didn't know it was over. 

Donnarumma's muted celebration set social media ablaze on Sunday night. But the 22-year-old later admitted that it took his teammates rushing toward him in celebration to realize the gravity of the tournament-clinching save against England. 

"I didn't celebrate on the penalty because I didn't understand that we had won," Donnarumma told Sky Sport Italia. "I was already down after Jorginho's missed penalty and I thought we had lost, but instead I had to continue.

"And now, with VAR, they always look at your feet since they can't be in front [of the line], and so I turned to the referee to see if everything was okay. Then I turned and saw my teammates coming towards me and everything kicked off from there. I didn't understand anything."

With his three clean sheets and three penalty saves, including two in the final against England and one in the semifinal against Spain, Donnarumma became only the second keeper ever to win the Player of the Tournament at the Euros, after Denmark's Peter Schmeichel in 1992.

The former AC Milan star, who is widely expected to make a free transfer to PSG this summer, played more minutes than any player at the tournament after three of Italy's four knockout stage matches went to extra time. 

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Andrew Gastelum
ANDREW GASTELUM

Andrew Gastelum is a programming editor and writer at Sports Illustrated who specializes in soccer, the Olympics and international sports. He joined the SI staff in March 2021 and previously contributed to Howler Magazine and NBC Sports. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame alum and is currently based in Italy.

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