Even the player's teammates didn't know about his injury, as he went on to save the last two penalties despite having a fractured arm.
Paris Saint-Germain won the FIFA Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday, defeating Brazilian side Flamengo on penalties after a 120-minute draw in Qatar's Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
PSG qualified for the final directly as the European champions, whereas Flamengo had to beat Pyramids and Cruz Azul in order to take part in the showpiece final.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring for the Parisians in the 38th minute from an excellent cross provided by Desire Doue, which the Flamengo goalkeeper was unable to handle add the Georgian forward put the ball into the back of the net quite easily.
The Brazilian side was giving PSG a tough fight throughout the match as Marquinhos conceded a penalty during the hour mark, and Jorginho converted the penalty with ease past PSG's Matvey Safonov.
Although Safonov was unable to save the spot-kick in regulation time, the Russian goalkeeper turned out to be PSG's hero in the final as he saved four out of the five Flamengo penalties even after two of his teammates, Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola, missed their respective penalties.
Manager Luis Enrique hailed the Goalkeeper's performance, saying, "It's the first time I've seen a goalkeeper save four penalties." Enrique's selection of Safonov over their first choice keeper, Lucas Chevalier, raised some serious concerns amongst the PSG fans, but the Russian turned out to be Enrique's best decision of the game.
Now, according to Get Football News France, the 26-year-old shot-stopper has been ruled out for at least a month as he seemingly fractured his left hand while saving Flamengo's third penalty, but decided to carry on with the pain and save the last two penalties to take his team over the line and win their first international trophy.
Safonov Saved the Last Two Penalties with a Fractured Arm
Just like his teammates, Enrique was unaware of Safonov's injury up until now, as he explained the incident during Friday's press conference, saying, "I can’t explain it, it’s unbelievable! Despite the fracture, he managed to save the last two shots. The adrenaline was so strong that he didn’t feel any pain. Being ready to help the team, being ready no matter what, that’s the mentality we want."
As it stands, Safonov won't travel to Nantes with the rest of the squad for their Coupe de France Round of 64 clash against fifth division side Fontenay on Saturday.
Safonov's last game in the Coupe de France was during PSG's 3-0 victory over Reims in last season's final, where he kept a clean sheet for Les Parisiens.
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