Matvey Safonov's secret notes on Flamengo takers, revealed in photos, guided PSG's triumph. Discover the strategy behind the crucial penalty shootout win.
An Egyptian journalist accredited to the Paris Saint-Germain vs. Flamengo match (1-1, 2-1 on penalties) managed to photograph the contents of Matvey Safonov's magic towel during the victorious penalty shootout on Wednesday night.
We now know what was in Matvey Safonov's magic towel on Wednesday night during the PSG vs. Flamengo Intercontinental Cup final (1-1, 2-1 on penalties). Like Gianluigi Donnarumma at Anfield last March, the Russian goalkeeper received advice from his goalkeeping coach, Borja Alvarez, before the winning penalty shootout against the Brazilians.
And as seen in a video shared by the Qatari channel Al Kass, Safonov also had information on the Brazilian takers hidden in his towel. Information that the Russian consulted before each penalty, which proved to be highly effective since, apart from the first penalty by Nicolas De La Cruz, where he was caught off guard, Safonov stopped the next four.
On Instagram, Egyptian journalist Mohamed Elhosary managed to film the Russian goalkeeper from behind during the shootout and even photograph exactly what was in his famous red towel. An opportunity to see that the Russian indeed had all the information on the Brazilian takers: for each, their name, jersey number, a photo, nationality, preferred foot, and, most importantly, their penalty history.
The players also seem to be ranked from the most experienced taker (Jorginho) to the least experienced (Wallace). It's worth noting that there appear to have been two versions of these sheets (one without crosses and one where players substituted during the match and thus no longer present for the shootout were crossed out).
During the victory celebrations, Safonov asked the PSG communications manager to retrieve his towel and return it to Luis Enrique's staff, but the Egyptian journalist had already gotten there first to document the contents of his now-famous towel.
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