Jordan Pickford will end Euro 2020 as the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets regardless of what happens in subsequent games and is thereby crowned the unofficial Golden Glove winner.
Before the semi-final stage, Pickford has recorded five games without conceding a single goal so far at Euro 2020.
Croatia, Czech Republic, Scotland, Germany and Ukraine all have tried and failed to beat the Everton and England goalkeeper.
After Italy‘s penalty shootout win over Spain last night, there is now no other stopper in the competition that can match Pickford’s five clean sheets.
That is because the only goalkeepers left in the tournament – Gianluigi Donnarumma and Kasper Schmeichel – cannot beat Pickford’s record even if they don’t concede in their remaining games.
There is no official ‘Golden Glove’ award handed out at Euro 2020, but we are more than glad to unofficially declare Pickford with the award. Clean sheets or otherwise, he’s been the standout goalie at this summer’s Euros.
Pickford on clean sheets
Prior to the victory over Ukraine in the quarter-finals, Pickford ensured that the credit for the clean sheets was shared with his teammates.
“For me, it is very good and it is really nice,” he said via the Independent:
“But it is not just me, it is a full XI and everyone is working really hard to keep those clean sheets, in tournament football they are key.
“It [Germany] was a good game. And for me, it was a good game. I was in the moment and I have got to be in the moment for England – and I felt I was there, making saves when I have got to.
“You just have to be ready, concentration levels have got to be high and I’ve just got to be 100 per cent throughout the game.”
In his fifth game against Ukraine, the goalkeeper matched Iker Casillas’s record of five consecutive clean sheets at the European Championships.
The Spain legend initially set the record back in 2012, keeping a clean sheet in the final as his side defeated Italy 4-0.
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