So far Sergio Romero’s attempts to save Argentina from great dangers have been overshadowed by the heroics of Lionel Messi. He has kept Argentina safe from serious threats on course to the final but those contributions were hardly recognised. However, Romero once again kept calm and broke the shackles to come out as the hero on the semi-final with his invaluable saves in the shootout against Netherlands.
Taking the Budweiser Trophy before the official post match conference Romero, the 27-year-old remained humble and said, “Enjoying this moment,we will enjoy it and tomorrow (today) we will start working ahead of the final. I’m really happy for everything. Penalties are a question of luck, that’s the truth. I was confident and fortunately everything turned out good.”
“We always come to the quarter-finals and return being denied. This time we’ve made it to the end. Let’s keep going,” urged Romero who also paid tribute to the Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal fo taking him to Holland in 2007 at Almark FC and teaching him the tricks behind penalty stops.
Romero carries the same first name of the former Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea who denied Roberto Donadoni and Aldo Serena in the Italia ‘90 semi-final against Italy, before Argentina lost in the final to West Germany. Romero, however, made just three appearances for his club Monaco FC last season which created a pre-world cup sentiment of “how could a goalkeeper without any type of club continuity be the undisputed starter of a national team?”
Alesandro Sabella put faith on the tall custodian who also played under the previous two coaches and wasn’t he paid back with huge dividends. Romero, who was seen concentrating hard on his duties during the match and was also probably reading some Bible phrases that he kept with him, not only took Argentina to the final but also gave a new reason for their fans to believe they will end their title drought.