The debate has been taking place for months in the Ukrainian goal. So much so that Serhiy Rebrov decided to distribute the three preparatory friendlies between his three goalkeepers: Anatolii Trubin, Heorhii Bushchan and Andrii Lunin.
“All our goalkeepers have a very high level. I am very satisfied,” the coach justified himself, who, finally, He opted to put Lunin as the starter -it had already been in the repechage- in the Euro.
Slovakia 1-2 Ukraine: summary and goals | Euro Cup (J2)
However, the Madrid player’s mistakes in the goals from Stanciu and Marin in the opening defeat against Romania (3-0) blew everything up in the air. “I apologized to my team,” Lunin lamented.
It was of little use to him. Rebrov returned ownership to Trubin, who, curiously, had been the most used goalkeeper heading into Euro 2024… and the Benfica goalkeeper vindicated himself in a big way in the comeback against Slovakia (1-2).
Trubin excelled with four saves, three of them of great merit: took a point-blank shot from Schranz in the 10′ and deflected a direct free kick from Hancko, still with 0-0, in the 17th minute. On the brink of half-time, already at 1-0, he showed off with a great low hand shot from Haraslin.
In addition, he did his ‘grain of sand’ – he has great footwork – when it came to getting the ball played from behind: He was the seventh Ukrainian player who came into contact with the ball the most times (44) and successfully completed 34 of the 39 passes he attempted.
“I am delighted with the competition we have among our goalkeepers. Trubin deserved to play after his performance in the friendly against Germany (0-0). He was very calm and could have even been a starter in the first game,” he said. Revrov.
Trubin deserved to play after his performance in the friendly against Germany (0-0)
Serhiy Rebrov
“I understand my substitution. It was my fault,” Lunin recognized. Trubin, for his part, was enjoying his moment: “When a goalkeeper makes a mistake, 90% of the time it’s a goal. Therefore, psychologically, we must be focused and emotionally stable. I was ready to play the first game and I was ready now. These tournaments are unique.”
A goalkeeper who ‘costs’ 100 million euros
Anatoliy Volodymyrovych Trubin (Donetsk, 2001) debuted as a practically child with Shakhtar. He was 17 years old and, little by little, he began to ‘eat the ground’ of another myth, both at the club and national team level, another legendary Ukrainian goalkeeper: Andriy Pyatov.
His debut in the Champions League couldn’t have been better. He debuted on October 21, 2020, in Shakhtar’s historic victory over Real Madrid (2-3) and managed to keep a clean sheet in both games against Inter, who knocked on his door last summer to be Onana’s successor.
In Ukraine he won three Leagues with Shakhtar, but His highlight to date was the three penalties he saved against Rennes in the Europa League.
Finally, he ended up at Benfica, following in the footsteps of Ederson and Oblak. The ‘Águilas’ paid 10 million for his transfer and, aware of his potential, placed a clause on him… of 100 million euros!!! “He is confident in the lateral centers – he is 1.99 meters tall -, he is good with his feet, he makes good decisions… He is growing little by little with the games. He is a ‘top’ goalkeeper and very young – he is 22 years old – , which can still evolve a lot,” acknowledges Roger Schmidt.
He is a top goalkeeper and very young. He can still evolve a lot
Roger Schmidt
The numbers prove him right. Trubin has been one of the few things that can be saved in a bad year for Benfica. Not in vain, He closed the season as the goalkeeper in the Portuguese League who has kept the most clean sheets (13) and has had the highest percentage of saves (79.6). He has also finished as the third goalkeeper who has saved the most ‘Expected Goals’. The metric that measures the difference between the expected goals after the shot and the goals received (PSxG-GA) says that he should have conceded 7.4 more goals than they have scored against him.
“It would be a good option for a Premier team,” says ‘Four Four Two’ after their great game against Slovakia. In short, this is Trubin, the goalkeeper who sat Lunin down.
