Boca Juniors seem determined to follow the example of PSV that won the European Cup in 1998. The Xeneize team does not know what it is to win a match from the group stage onwards: they have tied them all!!! They equaled in the round of 16, both in the first leg and in the second leg, with Nacional (0-0 and 2-2), in the quarterfinals with Racing (0-0 and 0-0) and in the semis with Palmeiras (0-0 and 1- 1).
No one, in the history of the Libertadores, had ever accomplished such a feat. A ‘miracle’ that has a name and surname, those of Sergio Germán Romero (Bernardo de Irigoyen, 1987). The ‘Chiquito’ has become giant stopping up to seven penalties!!!to put your mouth-The Fluminense of former Real Madrid player Marcelo awaits him-in the grand final of the 2023 Copa Libertadores. “We love him because he fulfilled that he was going to save penalties,” said Cavani.
We love him because he fulfilled that he was going to save penalties
The former goalkeeper of AZ, Sampdoria and Manchester United, among others, began to forge his legend with the penalty that stopped, still in the Group Stage, Juan Zuluaga in the defeat against Deportivo Pereira (1-0). The authentic recital began with the penalties stopped in the round of 16, against Nacional, ‘Colo’ Ramírez and Bocanegracontinued in quarters, against Racing, with the maximum penalties stopped for Piovi and Sigali and put the icing on the cake in the semis, against Palmeiras, saving shots from 11 meters by Veiga and Gustavo Gómez.
“Being able to help my teammates is something spectacular. We made a lot of effort and then,“When it comes time for penalties, thank God, at 36 years old I can have fun,” confessed ‘Chiquito Dios’, as he is already nicknamed in Argentina
When it comes time for penalties, thank God, at 36 years old I can have fun
“I thought my career would end in Europe”
Romero could not believe the feat he had just achieved: “The truth is that I never imagined playing in a Libertadores, that is the reality. “I was thinking with my wife about finishing my career in Europe, I didn’t even think I was going to return to Argentina.”
The truth is that Boca, with Romero, is in good hands, especially if it goes to penalties. The Argentine international has saved 12 of the 22, 55%, that have been thrown at him since he signed for Boca.
However, Sergio Romero’s fame with penalties comes from afar. In the memory there is still the famous “today you become a hero” that Mascherano dedicated to him before the round against the Netherlands -stopped the launches of Vlaar and Sneijder- that put Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final.