As the final whistle echoed around the Parken Stadium following 120 minutes of end-to-end, high-octane action, Unai Simon could afford to breathe an almighty sigh of relief.
In the end, the Spain goalkeeper probably did just about enough to ensure that the most bizarre of own goals in a tournament chock full of them was little more than a strange footnote come full-time.
Simon entered the tournament under the microscope, an error-strewn season for club and country casting doubt on whether he was the solution to Spain’s goalkeeping problems.
And the Athletic Bilbao stopper handed his critics enough ammunition to start World War 3 when he let Pedri’s seemingly harmless backpass spin off his instep and roll into the goal 20 minutes into a remarkable round-of-16 clash with Croatia.
When you consider that Simon made six mistakes that led directly to goals in 2020/21 – the most of any goalkeeper in Europe’s top five leagues – a moment of madness in the knockout stage of a major international tournament always felt like a possibility.
But what Simon lacks in concentration and consistency, he more than makes up for in resolve and, to quote Arsene Wenger, ‘bouncebackability’.
Has Unai Simon shown why Arsenal want him?
The 24-year-old never let his head drop for a second, spraying around passes with the kind of composure and confidence you wouldn’t believe from a man who had just channelled his inner-Paul Robinson just a few minutes earlier.
Simon also made a stunning one-handed save in the second half, denying Josko Gvardiol from point-blank range, before coming to Spain’s rescue again to keep out Andrej Kramaric as La Roja survived an almighty scare to beat a spirited Croatia 5-3 after extra time.
“[Unai Simon] has taught everyone a lesson. After a mistake, your mistake does not matter, but your attitude after the mistake,” Spain boss Luis Enrique told Goal. “It is a lesson for all his team-mates and for all the children who want to play football.”
“Unai is a great goalkeeper. He reacted brilliantly to what happened and he saved us with a couple of stops which were tremendous – particularly when the score was 3-3,” Ferran Torres told the BBC.
La Razon reported in March that Mikel Arteta had identified Unai Simon as a potential replacement for Bernd Leno at Arsenal.
But on the evidence of that remarkable Monday night in Copenhagen, the rough must be taken with the smooth when it comes to the Basque-born shot-stopper.
For every head-scratching mistake, there will be a hatful of world-class, reflex saves. The question is, are Arsenal willing to accept the blunders as well as the brilliance?
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