In the media all over the world, the absolute protagonist of the first day of Champions League è Iván Provedel. The images of the header of the goalkeeper of the Lazio who scored the 95-1 draw against the 1th minuteAtletico Madrid They've made headlines around the globe. From L'Equipe to the BBC, but also on CBS and the more exotic Times of India and Free Malaysia Today, the Italian goalkeeper's feat is celebrated as an incredible and romantic story.
The Biancoceleste goalkeeper has realised one of the dreams that all children secretly cultivate when they start playing in goal. Calcium: even scoring goals. An ad for football, seemingly swamped by the money that buys everything, but actually capable of instilling simple emotions. UEFA also recognized this, dedicating a post to Provedel on social media, calling him a "hero."
Ivan, a tall 194cm-tall lad from Friuli, was the first to be amazed by the feat on his Champions League debut: after scoring, he ran across the entire pitch with his teammates trying in vain to catch him. "It's a night I will remember for the rest of my life.", he then commented simply. Last season, at 28, he seized the opportunity to play for a big club for the first time, joining Lazio. And since then, he has never left the Roman club's goal, also earning a call-up to the national team in 2022.
In reality, Provedel had already scored once before: on February 7, 2020, in Serie B, he scored the goal, again with a header, in Juve Stabia's 2-2 draw away to Ascoli. Moreover, Provedel took his first steps as a footballer as a striker in the Pordenone youth team before dedicating himself to the role of goalkeeper.
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Besides those two, Jorg Butt (three goals between 2000 and 2009) and Vincent Enyeama (in 2010) also found the net, both from the penalty spot. Provedel's goal brought to mind the feat achieved by Michelangelo Rampulla at 31 years old. A longtime Juventus goalkeeper and now Salernitana's goalkeeping coach, he saw Provedel's goal on TV and relived the emotion of that February 22, 1992, when he scored his hometown Cremonese's 1-1 draw against Atalanta. He was the first Italian goalkeeper to score from open play.
"I vaguely remember that day, it was incredible. The next day all the journalists in the world were calling me, the goal was being reported everywhere. - tells - even though there was no internet yet." "Provedel scored a beautiful goal: a perfectly timed run like a true striker. He stayed in the box on the second cross, showing he believed in it."
Rampulla set a precedent. Three other Italian goalkeepers have since experienced the thrill of scoring from open play. Massimo Taibi scored Reggina's equalizer at home against Udinese in 2001, setting the Granillo stadium ablaze. Marco Amelia scored Livorno's 2006-1 draw in Belgrade in the UEFA Cup in 1. Alberto Brignoli scored for Benevento at the San Siro against AC Milan in 2007. Abroad, there have been numerous goalkeepers who took penalties and free kicks. One goalkeeper, in fact, played both as a goalkeeper and a striker: Mexican Jorge Campos.
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