Goalie saves courageous Twente under pressure…

The dramatic moment in Lisbon

FC Twente keeps sight on the second round in the CL qualifications.

On a night full of drama in Lisbon, the Tukkers were able to go home with a draw playing with ten men for a large part of the game. It looked bleak for the Twente team, but the young sub goalie Nikolaj Mikhailov saved Twente with his courageous goalkeeping.

Mikhailov has a special status at the Tukkers. Most players and fans think he’s a bit of a showpony who should focus on goalkeeping instead of demonstrating his special abilities.

And he is a show man. It’s probably due to the fact that his dad and his granddad were famous goalies in Bulgaria. Dad Mikhailov played 105 internationals for his country and was a mate and colleague of Hristo Stoichkov. He reached the semi-finals at the WC1994 with his country. Granddad Mikhailov played 400 official games for Levski Sofia, one of Bulgaria’s biggest clubs.

So, when the 19 year old was borrowed of Liverpool in the 2007-08 season by Twente, he felt no one had to tell him what to do to become a great goalie. Liverpool still owns the player, who never had a lot of opportunities in Enschede to show his worth. He replaced Sander Boschker six times last season.

And yesterday, his status changed. After 24 minutes Mikhailov was put on the pitch to replace Boschker, who was sent off with a red card. Boschker is one of the loudest criticasters of Mikhailov, who claimed many times that the young goalie needs to change his attitude if he wants to reach the top. Boschker was the victim of a sad but at the same time hilarious situation in the 24th minute.

Ken Perez hit the ball ferociously hard against the body of an opponent in the center of the pitch. The ball bounced all the way into the box in the stride of Sporting striker Postiga. Boschker would have been able to save, but slipped and the time he lost by doing so gave Postiga the “opportunity” to fall over Boschker’s arm: penalty and red card for the Twente goalie.

Mikhailov wasn’t phased by the pressure cooker vibe in the Alvalade stadium. He was smiling and joking at the byline when he put on his gloves. He pulled his socks up high as if he wore pantyhoses and walked onto the pitch. 30 seconds later, he stopped the penalty kick of Sporting skipper Moutinho.

The whole Twente camp jumped Mikhailov and the heroic save gave Twente the adrenaline it needed to withstand Sporting. Even McClaren was exposed. He threw his jacked in the dug out and started to pace the byline, shouting commands onto the pitch. The UEFA official needed to tell the Umbrella Man time and time again to go back into his dug out.

Twente had a tumultuous first half in Portugal. To the shock of the home fans, Twente started the game full confidence and passion and took a hold of the game from the first seconds. Within the first minute, new signing Ruiz could have scored the 0-1, when a cross by Stoch – another new signing – landed in his stride.

Not much later, it was Kenneth Perez who forced the Sporting goalie to a miraculous save on a free kick. Ruiz and Stoch were the new and gutsy strikers at Twente and their performance was dynamic and refreshing.

With only ten men on the pitch, Twente had to survive with blood, sweat and tears. But McClaren could be proud of his lads. And in particular of his goalie Mikhailov, who stopped everything that came his way.