This is AC Milan goalkeeper Lapo Francesco Maria Nava, #69.

For many, the fact that in most professional sports these days the players are just mercenaries who will play for whoever pays them the most detracts from the game. However Nava is a rare case of a Milanese born and bred. He was in fact born in January 2004, making him 20 as of this game.

His playing time during the 2024 season was a mere 2 minutes in 1 of 38 matches, saving 1 goal and conceding another... so you could say that he was lacking a little in match experience. (By comparison, 29 year old Milan starting goalkeeper Mike Maignan played 2,609 minutes in 29 of 38 matches. He did not come to Perth.)

So, you could say that he was fed to the wolves (Roma, the Capitoline wolf, geddit?) in this match. 3 of Roma's 5 goals were scored on his watch after he was substituted at half time for the 32 year old Marco Sportiello who, with 630 minutes in 7 of 38 matches, would seem to be Milan's main substitute goalkeeper.

Still, the experience gained will not have gone astray.

Thankfully for Nava, this shot at goal did. A couple of feet to the left and a foot down, and that may well have been Roma's 6th goal of the match. There's not a thing that the best goalkeeper in the world could have done to stop it, unless he was also the luckiest.

I have no doubt that the expression on Nava's face is a mixture of dread and relief.

I hope Nava doesn't take the result too much to heart. He's only young, and there is plenty of time for him to grow into the gloves.