Player of the Weekend: Pedro Gallese

In a weekend that saw not one, not two but THREE penalty shootouts in Copa America, it is perhaps no surprise that our Player of the Weekend is a goalkeeper.

Arguably the shock of the round came from Peru vs Uruguay, as one of the favourites were eventually dumped out after 90 minutes of (just about) goalless football and one missed penalty. Pedro Gallese will go down as the hero, having denied the likes of Suarez and Cavani on occasion during the match, only being beaten by the three goals Uruguay had chalked out for offside.

Then, with Copa America’s quarter-final ties going straight to penalties – no extra time – the drama was intensified quickly. Luis Suarez, who’d come so close to winning the game on several occasions, was the first player to take a penalty and lo and behold, he saw his strike clatter off the outstretched leg of our Player of the Weekend.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzWfVC0HNYB/

It was a huge blow for Uruguay as the momentum of the shootout swung with Peru before it had even got going. Clinical spot kick after spot kick was to come, but that miss and that superb save from Pedro Gallese separated the sides.