Rio Ferdinand lauded Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Wojciech Szczesny as being ‘one of the best’ in the world at saving penalties after he denied Lionel Messi at the Qatar World Cup.
Both Argentina and Poland progressed to the knockout stages of the World Cup in Doha – despite the Polish losing 2-0 to the South American giants on Wednesday.
But, as Ferdinand alluded to, without Szczesny in between the sticks, then his country are on an early plane back home.
When the game was goalless, Szczesny, to his left-hand side, raised his left hand to keep out Messi’s penalty and it proved to be tournament-defining because Poland progressed to the last-16 on goal difference after their 2-0 loss and Mexico’s 2-1 win against Saudi Arabia.
The former Arsenal man and current Juventus goalkeeper showcased his worth, as it left ex-England defender Rio Ferdinand pretty impressed, as he told Match of the Day.
“Szczesny is probably one of the best penalty (savers) in the world, at the moment,” said Ferdinand. “He’s got a goalkeeper coach, they have been analysing penalty-takers.
“If he doesn’t play and perform the way he does, then Poland are out, it’s simple as that.”
TOTTENHAM’S INTEREST IN SZCZESNY
It didn’t go as well as he would have liked, but Szczesny did don the colours of Arsenal for an eight-year period, before leaving in 2017.
But there is talk of the 32-year-old returning to north London, but not on that side.
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham are looking for a new face in between the sticks to replace Hugo Lloris and it seems as though Szczesny is one of the names on their list.
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