PORTUGAL vs FRANCE: All eyes may be on the men in attack for both sides in Hamburg on Friday, but there are key players for both in between the sticks too
Missed penalties and broken noses have meant that this Euros hasn't exactly gone to plan for Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe just yet.
But for the men who will be trying to stop them from scoring in Friday night's mouthwatering quarter-final in Hamburg, things could scarcely be going better.
Diogo Costa heads into the last eight as Portugal's new hero. His three penalty saves against Slovenia - a first in a Euros shootout - have cemented him in the hearts of the nation, and indeed of a grateful Ronaldo after he'd dried his eyes.
The Porto stopper, just 24, was called "the most hidden secret in European football" by his gleeful and grateful manager Roberto Martinez after his Slovenia heroics, and he puts his success down to a simple approach.
When quizzed on how he kept out those three spot kicks from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic, he gave a very matter of fact answer.
"I just went with my gut," he said. "I thought I needed to do that and I'm happy I did. Goalkeepers sometimes barely touch the ball, but this makes it worth it."
Trusting his instincts is what has got him this far, and he isn't going to change now.
Costa's save when Benjamin Sesko was through one on one with him in extra-time was just as impressive as his penalty stops, and if he turns in a similar display then Mbappe and co are going to have to do something special to beat him.
At the opposite end of the pitch will be France's Mike Maignan, who has conceded just one goal in his four games so far, a tournament record among the ever-present goalkeepers.
'Magic Mike' has been the man trusted to take the gloves from long-term France No.1 Hugo Lloris, who played for Les Bleus in the last two World Cup finals, and the AC Milan stopper, who turned 29 yesterday, has delivered in spades since the step up.
Perhaps because it was his birthday, France sent out his two deputies to meet the media at their base in Paderborn yesterday, with both singing his praises.
"He works a lot and this solidity is also linked to this work," said the former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba, now at Lens. "He is someone determined and his face changes for matches."
West Ham stopper Alphonse Areola added: "We are qualified, and he had his share of responsibility with three clean sheets in four matches. We are by his side to push him."
The likelihood is that one or both goalkeepers will be in the thick of the action at some stage on Friday, perhaps when it comes to penalties again. Ronaldo and Mbappe have been warned.
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