Belgian fans do not understand why coach Rudi Garcia chose Manchester United's Senne Lammens over Chelsea's Mike Penders, a decision that looked even worse after Lammens' costly error eliminated Belgium from the tournament.
Recently, Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders was on the lips of many Belgian fans after his national team's elimination at the hands of Spain. Remember that during Friday's match, Belgium's starting goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, sustained an injury in the 71st minute, forcing him to leave the field. It should be mentioned that, as usual, his performance was top-notch.
After his injury, the coach, Rudi Garcia, chose to pick Senne Lammens (Manchester United) to replace him, leaving Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders on the bench. Unfortunately, Lammens made a mistake in the 88th minute of the match. After a powerful shot from defender Pau Cubarsi, he could not hold onto the ball and gave up a rebound to the center of the area, which Mikel Merino reacted quickly to and scored the goal that decided the tie.
It was a match the Belgians had set up that way, and it was going as planned since they were minutes away from forcing extra time. The fans' anger toward the Red Devils goalkeeper on social media was noticeable. Because they clearly consider him the guilty party, after being on the field for only a few minutes and finding a way to ruin a very good tactical setup by the team.
One user mentioned, "Doesn't Penders seem like a better goalkeeper than him? What's the reason Lammens is the second goalkeeper? What I saw of Penders makes him seem like a goalkeeper of the highest level."
Another says: "Belgium might've called up the wrong young keeper... Watching that error, it's hard to believe Mike Penders couldn't have offered more than this." While a last user stated: "Fortunately, the Spaniard Rudy Garcia deliberately put the worst keeper to replace Courtois when he had the chance to put in Penders, the GOAT."
Now, with his upcoming return to London, he must join the team's preseason under Xabi Alonso's orders. It is expected that Danish goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen will leave the club this summer, as he has already requested a transfer to another team in search of greater regularity. Because of this, Penders would be competing for the starting spot with Robert Sanchez, as long as they do not sign any other goalkeeper, of course.
Some sources indicate that they are interested in Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who performed excellently in the round-of-16 match between Portugal and Spain. Being the team's standout by stopping the Spanish team's incessant attacks.
