Ten minutes after the final whistle, the Stade de France is emptying quickly. The Azzurri wave to the supporters and head back to the dressing room, while Gigio Donnarumma stays out on the pitch for a few minutes longer. He walks over to the Italian section, thanks them, takes in the affection of those who followed Italy all the way to Paris, and leaves his shirt behind. It is the last image of a night in which the Italy captain was there to the very end, with the supporters but above all inside his own box, in the space where he is most at home, keeping Italy alive with a huge performance.
The first big save comes against Doué. Donnarumma reacts quickly, makes himself big and pushes the ball away. But it is not over: Dembélé is first to the rebound, ready for the tap-in, and Gigio, still on the ground, somehow gets back up to make another save. Two saves in the same sequence, almost two miracles, and a snapshot of the Manchester City goalkeeper’s night. Good positioning is only part of it. There is the split second, the ability to read where the ball will go, and above all the reaction needed to get back up when the move already seems lost. Then there is Olise, who finds the one way through. A perfect free-kick, over the wall and into a corner Donnarumma cannot reach. No blame, no regret, just a brilliant strike from the Frenchman, answered by the Italian goalkeeper throwing his arms out in resignation.
Otherwise, Donnarumma keeps the Italy goal intact. He comes up big again against Rabiot, with another important save, and then in the final stages, when France turns up the pressure in search of a winner. Camavinga tries to find a way through twice, and twice Donnarumma is there. Those are the saves that keep it at 1-1 when the game enters its decisive minutes and every ball into the Italian box threatens to become something more. The first save, then the second, even bigger. Gigio gives nothing away, stays on his feet until the end and carries the scoreline towards the final whistle.
Seven saves in all. That puts Donnarumma third in his own list for most saves in a single Italy appearance, behind the ten against Bosnia in the World Cup play-off and the eight against Spain at Euro 2024. The figure says plenty, but it still does not quite capture the weight of his performance, because not every save is worth the same. In Paris, they came at the moments that mattered, when France looked as though it might start to take control of the game.
The advanced numbers tell their own story: 4.8 goals prevented, six carries, 49 touches and five long passes. Donnarumma was involved beyond his six-yard box too, offering an outlet and trying to push Italy forward, and that was also where a few of the imperfections in his game showed up. His distribution was loose at times, he misplaced a couple of clearances and did not always find his teammates with the precision required. But once again, the difference came when it mattered.
Italy were not a team pinned back by France, nor were they forced to spend 90 minutes defending their own box. Quite the opposite: the Azzurri played a very good game, particularly against such strong opposition. They played with personality and never stopped trying to play, responding to going behind and finding a way to stay in a difficult game until the end. And that is the point. Donnarumma did not rescue a team that had been unable to play. He protected a team that was playing well, but was up against opponents capable of turning one moment into a chance. France had those moments and, every time apart from Olise’s free-kick, the Italy captain was there.
That is what a great goalkeeper brings: not necessarily a hundred saves, but the right one when the game asks for it. Doué, Dembélé, Rabiot, Camavinga. Different names, different situations, the same answer. Donnarumma kept the 1-1 intact and gave Italy the chance to leave with a valuable point. The Azzurri return from Paris with a big performance and a draw in which their captain played a decisive part: seven saves, five crucial saves, a string of chances denied and just one goal conceded, to Olise’s perfect free-kick. The rest of the night belonged to the wall wearing the armband, who, when the game was over, still found a few extra minutes for the supporters.