Loris Karius is back in goal after a two-year absence. The German goalkeeper, who fell from grace after the “ducklings” in the 2016 Champions League final in Kiev lost by Liverpool against Real Madrid, he took the field at Wembley with the Newcastle shirt in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United. And there was so much curiosity about the return of “Calamity Karius” or “model goalkeeper” (as they called him in Liverpool) as his last game was dated February 28, 2021 with Union Berlin (against Hoffenheim).
Against United he didn’t play badly
Karius was registered by Magpies come third goalkeeper with a contract until June 2023 and was only fielded against United because starter Nick Pope was suspended and second Martin Dubravka couldn’t play due to bureaucratic reasons (in the current season the Slovak had played a Carabao Cup match with the Red Devils on loan from Newcastle). Received the support of his girlfriend Diletta Leotta and after a few uncertainty during the pre-match warm-upWarrior he didn’t play badly. Guilty on the two goals that gave Manchester United the victory, 8 saves and 3 shots saved from inside the area including a decisive intervention on Bruno Fernandes in the final minutes which prevented the 3-0.
“But why is he wearing WWII gloves?”
But on social media, the fans targeted what was the youngest goalkeeper to make his debut in the history of the Bundesliga. They are over in the viewfinder pictures of the pre-match parades but mostly the (“ugly” and “old”) gloves that Karius wore for the match. “But why did he put on World War II gloves?“, many users wondered on Twiiter. “It’s been a while since he’s played and he only found welding glovethe work gloves“, wrote one fan, while for another they were “gardening gloves”.
Leotta: “I admire your strength and your courage”
Before the game, the TV presenter Diletta Leotta, Karius’ girlfriend, had sent him a letter in response to a request for The Athletics who had asked a family member or loved one of each player to dedicate a thought to the player himself. After defining “endless, painful and incredible” the last two years of Karius, Leotta recalls “the two years of sad nights, a lump in your throat and bad thoughts that kept you away from the game, but not from your greatest passion: the green soccer field that makes millions of children dream every day. But , as you taught me, life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you decide to react”. So here is that “from the first moment we met I admired your strength and courage. You told me about the long journey you have made, about your rebirth and about the strength with which you believe in yourself”.