If we’d told you before the tournament a goalkeeper who failed to make the grade at Liverpool would emerge as one of the stars of Euro 2020, you’d have been forgiven for assuming we were talking about Peter Gulacsi, not Danny Ward.
But while the one-time Tranmere Rovers and Hereford loanee was powerless to prevent a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal breaking Hungary’s brave resistance on Tuesday, the RB Leipzig shot-stopper has been comfortably overshadowed by another former Anfield benchwarmer.
If it wasn’t for Danny Ward’s cat-like reflexes and stainless-steel wrists, Wales would surely have tasted defeat at the hands of a dominant Switzerland side during their competition opener on Saturday.
But, after keeping the likes of Breel Embolo at bay during a brilliant display in Baku, Ward made his presence felt once more as Robert Page’s side moved to within touching distance of the knockout stages.
Is Wales hero Ward showing Liverpool what they’re missing?
They say it’s the mark of a top-class goalkeeper, springing into life at the speed of sound after spending most of the game as little more than an interested spectator.
Turkey hardly peppered the Welsh goal yesterday afternoon but a 2-0 win could easily have become a 1-1 draw had Ward not tipped aside a bullet Merih Demiral header when the encounter was still teetering on a knife edge.
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According to the Echo, Liverpool had the good sense to include a 20 per cent sell-on clause in Ward’s contract when they sold the seldom-seen shot-stopper to Leicester City in a £12 million deal three years ago.
And while the 27-year-old has no complaints about the fact he’s spent most of his time at the King Power watching Kasper Schmeichel from the sidelines, a stellar showing on the international stage means Ward is unlikely to be short of offers from clubs looking to make the perennial number two their number one.
Here’s what some Liverpool fans on Twitter had to say about Ward’s performances in Euro 2020:
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