Gianluigi Donnarumma became the youngest player in the history of the Azzurri to play between the sticks, while Gustavo Gomez’s Paraguay beat Mati Fernandez and Chile last night.
This round of international football is an historic one for Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma as on Thursday night the 17-year-old he replaced the 38-year-old Gianluigi Buffon on the half-time of the friendly between Italy and France.
Gigio made some great saves but also conceded a goal at his post that he perhaps could’ve done better on, as Italy were beaten 3-1 by the 2016 EURO runner-up.
“It’s an indescribable emotion,” Donnarumma told RAI at the end of the match in Bari. “I thank coach Ventura for this opportunity and my debut. I am really quite emotional about it. What Pogba told me? He complimented me and said he was happy to see me here. I said the same to him.
“The goal I conceded? We’ll analyze the goal tomorrow with the Coach. Buffon told me to stay calm, do what I know and to have fun. It’s a new era, we are at the disposal of the Coach and in four days we’ll try to do better in Israel (Italy’s next match is on the 5th of September in Haifa, Israel).”
In addition to Donnarumma who played 45 minutes, Riccardo Montolivo was also used in the second half, while Mattia De Sciglio played 58 minutes and Giacomo Bonaventura played 66 minutes. Luca Antonelli spent the whole game on the bench. Alessio Romagnoli was originally part of the squad of Giampiero Ventura but departed the camp to join the U21 side and Davide Calarbia.
There were 3 other games featuring Milan players yesterday: Carlos Bacca played 83 minutes in Colombia’s 2-0 win over Venezuela as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. Gustavo Gomez and his Paraguay side beat Chile 2-1; the 23-year-old defender played the whole match and was booked in the 53′ minute while Chilean deadline day signing Matias Fernandez was not used. Keisuke Honda scored a goal for Japan but they were defeated 2-1 by United Arab Emirates.
More international matches will be played today (Italy U21 and U19) and next week as Serie A returns for Milan on the 11th of September when they play Udinese at 15:00 CET / Italy time.
I got chills when I read this…good ones of course! So proud of him… Keep it up Gigio you are our brightest spot for many years to come!!! Forza Gigio , FORZA MILAN!!!
Many Congratulations Gigio for your debut. Please do not get bogged down for conceding the goal.
The save against Pogba’s freekick was awesome.
Forza Gigio… Forza Milan
Grande Gigio Rising star
There’s one glaring similarity between donnarumma, pogba and guy like neymar and messi. They have good amount of confidence yet still have both feet planted firmly on the ground. This kind of personality is what separates champions from airheads like balotelli and cassano. I hope donnarumma keeps on improving in both physical skills and mentality, he’s got what it takes go be a legend.
P.s. Jaaack played longest in azzurri shirt of all milan players. Damn he’s good
So proud of our Gigio, this is just the beginning, lets hope he keeps it up! On another note, Gomez played quite well against Chile, up against the likes of Alexis Sanchez, and he also got into a little argument with the disgusting Gary Medel. I like him already. He is still a bit too “tempered” in his game, which can be a good thing, but very risky when you play in defence, especially as a centre back. He is still young though, and if he gets polished in the right way, gets the tactical aspects right, I think he… Read more »
When I saw gigio come on for italy I had tears, proud moment being italian and especially a Milanista! I truly believe in the kid to be great and I hope he is the goalie for both milan and italy for the next 20 years. I haven’t had passion for such a player for awhile. All the best, grande gigio!!
Fellow Milanista, go to Facebook to Official AC Milan Page and spam it with #VogliamoMaldini.. share the hashtag, spread the word on Twitter, let the new management know we want our legends back where they belong, in some administration capacity..Forza Milan
It’s gud to see lots of milan players doing well in dia respective national teams! Even king montolivo was good as bonaventura! Dias a good future in d horizon! Forza milan