Last week, Thibaut Courtois celebrated his 30th birthday.
In other words: no longer a child.
By the end of the week he had 14 titles during his career, in four different teams.
But the highlight came in the Champions League final - at the end of which he lifted the most important trophy in Europe for the first time.
Not "just" won the trophy, but was also selected as the outstanding player of the game.
What Tibo Courtois did on Saturday in the Champions League final against Liverpool was truly amazing.
Since they began collecting data, this is the first time a goalkeeper has recorded nine stops at this class.
And not just stops - at least three of the kicks kicked at him at the Stade de France in Paris were at the highest level.
It is likely that if other goalkeepers had stood between the posts, most of the balls kicked by Muhammad Salah and Sadio Mana would have ended up in the net.
I'll put on the Real Madrid jersey with pride tonight!
Sentimos vuestro apoyo, todos juntos a por la victoria en la Final 🔥 #HalaMadrid # APorLa14 pic.twitter.com/GbQ3rLmGjC
- Thibaut Courtois (@thibautcourtois) May 28, 2022
But Courtois locked the gate.
It was a perfect goalie display worth a score of 10, and he did so in the most important and prestigious game.
He is currently the best goalkeeper in the world, and it will be difficult to argue with that determination.
Courtois excelled not only in the final, but throughout the entire season.
During Real Madrid's 13 Champions League games he recorded 61 stops - almost 5 per game.
And again, these would mean that you have to spend for these processes.
Courtois.
Game sign, Photo: AFP
Courtois has saved Real this season time and time again, and many Real fans have begun to compare him to "Sun Iker" (the holy Iker), who is the mythical goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
The thing is, Courtois, unlike Casillas, did not grow up in Real Madrid.
He started his career in Belgian Genk, alongside Kevin de Bruyne and Alinib Barda.
In his first season as the team's first goalkeeper he won the championship, in the 2010/11 season.
The huge goalkeeper (199 cm) with amazing instincts immediately became the target of the greats on the continent. By the way, the family's favorite sport in general was volleyball, and he even played volleyball as a child.
Chelsea bought him when he was 20, but since Peter Cech was its goalkeeper at the time, the young Belgian was loaned to Atletico Madrid.
In his three seasons with the Colchoneros, Courtois has won no less than four titles, including the Spanish Championship.
Unfortunately, in the 2014 Champions League final, he absorbed the equalizer from Sergio Ramos in the 93rd minute, and the Blancos won 1: 4 in overtime and prevented him from winning the title even then.
At the end of that season he returned to Chelsea, and in his four seasons at Stamford Bridge he won two championships, the English Cup and the League Cup.
But no matter what he did and what degrees he won - the English media did not hold him too much.
Courtois.
There is nothing like swinging the trophy with the big ears, Photo: EP
On Tuesday, after the win over Liverpool, he closed an account with her when he said: "I had to win to add respect to my name. I think I do not get enough respect, especially in England."
In 2018, Courtois moved to Real, and the championship he won this season is already his second in the Blancos uniform.
Despite this, nothing is as exciting as swinging the trophy with the big ears.
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