EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Real Madrid’s Club World Cup quarterfinal against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibout Courtois’ post.
Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 6-foot-7 frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down.
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Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest.
Sabitzer turned his back to the goal and put both hands on his head as Brazilian referee Ramon Abatti walked by, raised both hands and blew the final whistle.
“In football it’s like this. All the teams that are here, they compete until the end,” Courtois said after Real’s 3-2 victory Saturday. “A game could become like this at any minute and that’s what happened at the end.”
Voted the top goalkeeper in 2018, Courtois has won a pair of Champions League titles with Real Madrid along with a two Premier League championships and four in La Liga. “We are so lucky that we have Thibaut on goal because Thibault is one of those keepers that makes you win games and today that save has been so decisive,” Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said.
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Gonzalo García and Fran García scored in the first 20 minutes as Madrid built a 2-0 lead.
Dortmund’s Maximilian Beier scored three minutes into stoppage time and Kylian Mbappé, who entered in the 67th, restored a two-goal lead with his bicycle kick one minute later.
Serhou Guirassy converted a penalty kick in the eighth minute of added time after he was fouled by Dean Huijsen, who received a red card and will miss the semifinals.
Courtois then came up with a stop for the ages.
“It is a great big save. That’s the reason why he is the best goalkeeper in the world,” Dortmund coach Niko Kovač said.
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Madrid advanced to a semifinal match against Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, a day after Chelsea meets Brazilian club Fluminense.
“The nervousness, we need to learn to be more calm in the next game and finish the game in possession,” Courtois said.
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Associated Press Writer Nuria Diaz Munoz contributed to this report.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
