Wojciech Szczesny, Poland And Juventus’ Penalty-Saving King

It was in the 39^th minute of what had been an entertaining first half that the trajectory of Poland vs Saudi Arabia started to turn.

Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski had given Poland the lead merely five minutes before hand, sweeping home Robert Lewandowski’s smart pull-back after the Barcelona striker was forced wide by goalkeeper Mohammed Khalil Al Owais.

Now however, Saudi Arabia had the chance to restore parity with a penalty, and all eyes were on Wojciech Szczesny and Salem Al Dawsari. As Al Dawsari started his run, Szczesny faked to go left, before nimbly springing low to his right, and saving Al Dawsari’s effort, which was perfect height for the goalkeeper.

Better was still to come.

Szczesny’s parry didn’t clear the ball completely, it fell to Mohammed Al-Breik metres away from goal, and the left-back hit a firm effort to Szczesny’s left, but the Polish stopper, showing all the reflexes of a proverbial cat, deflected the effort over the bar.

The Juventus keeper was swarmed by his team mates, knowing that incredible sequence of events had kept Poland’s lead in order. If one had been watching Szczesny over the years at Juve, you’d know that there was a high probability of the 32-year-old saving the penalty. It’s something he’s become quiet good at it since joining The Old Lady five years ago.

“We’ve found a way to analyse penalty kick-tackers and once in a while, I save them,” he said after the game. “The stat during the last two years is positive, I have more penalty saves than goals conceded from the spot, so the thing is working well at Juve.”

Since joining Juventus in the summer of 2017, Szczesny has saved some 11 penalties from a total of 34 faced. He saved three in Serie A last season, and no one saved more.

Szczesny has been one of Juve’s most reliable performers in an era where that can’t be said about too many of their players. Upon joining the club he was understudy to the great Gianluigi Buffon, sitting under his learning tree and soaking in the experience of working and training alongside arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the sport.

When Buffon left Juventus at the end of the 2017/2018 season, Szczesny then became Juve’s undisputed No.1, and hasn’t looked out of place since. Even when Buffon returned, after his Parisian sojourn only lasted a single season, he remained the No.1.

“My first thought was that sometimes you have to take a step back to take two forward,” Szczesny told BBC Sport about his year as Buffon’s understudy. “When I analysed the situation, it wasn’t much of a step back because I knew I was going to play.

“I got 21 games, which is not bad for a second keeper. I also had the opportunity to learn from one of the best in history and I had one year to prepare for the job of replacing him.

“It was the best career opportunity I could ever have.”

That’s not to say there hasn’t been difficult times, Szczesny has went through indifferent patches of form, especially in mid 2021. But for a club that’s been in a constant state of flux since sacking Max Allegri in 2019 and last season resulting in their first trophy-less campaign for 11 years, Szczesny has been as steady constant in the Bianconeri side.

With Poland now top of group C and a point ahead of everyone, there is a real chance for the eastern European nation to make it into the knockout stage for the first time since 1986. Should they top the group, there is every chance that a quarter final place is there for the taking. And should it happen, Szczesny will have a big role to play in it.