Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon less than 90 minutes from breaking World Cup record

[p]The Spanish national team goalkeeper, according to BeSoccer Pro data, is currently on a run of 429 minutes without conceding a goal. If he keeps a clean sheet in the Round of 32, he will jump from eighth to first place in this ranking ahead of legendary goalkeepers like Walter Zenga of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/italy/hlKvieGH/"]Italy[/a] and Peter Shilton of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a], and he will even knock a certain Iker Casillas off the podium[b].[/b][/p][p]He would also leave behind the German Sepp Maier, the Italian Gianluigi Buffon, the Brazilian Emerson Leao and the Englishman Gordon Banks. This achievement would add to the fact that he has kept a clean sheet in five of his first seven official World Cup matches, just as Zenga once did.[/p][p]All this is without counting extra time, only the regular 90 minutes.[/p][image alt="Simon's stats this tournament" id="a790b55c-71f7-42c3-9c12-834078c9d49f" credit-line="Nayra Halm / Zuma Press / Profimedia / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="e616f206-266f-4c81-a44f-89947e570bd1" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][h2]Spain making history as a team[/h2][p]Despite the initial debate over who should be [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a]’s starting goalkeeper after the outstanding seasons of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-pons-joan/vuAlEqes/"]Joan Garcia[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raya-david/nkVV0IXb/"]David Raya[/a], coach Luis de la Fuente remained convinced that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simon-unai/Ao9Vw3hi/"]Simon[/a] was the best choice.[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ath-bilbao/IP5zl0cJ/"]Athletic Club[/a] keeper raised a few questions on aerial balls against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uruguay/xMk44orG/"]Uruguay[/a], but he stayed solid in all other dangerous situations created by the Uruguayans. He even showed his composure with the ball at his feet by dribbling inside his own box, suggesting he is a[b] [/b]goalkeeper full of confidence[b].[/b][/p][p]And for now, the Unai gamble is paying off. Alongside him, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cubarsi-pau/UgTrNwCF/"]Pau Cubarsi[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/laporte-aymeric/SYnaB65s/"]Aymeric Laporte[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cucurella-marc/QTynbZd3/"]Marc Cucurella[/a] have played every possible minute.[/p][p]With help from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/llorente-marcos/z3D5zvbD/"]Marcos Llorente[/a] in two matches and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/porro-pedro/nTebDzHC/"]Pedro Porro[/a] in others, as well as the rest of the team, this Spain side has already done better than the one crowned in 2010: they made it through the group stage without conceding a single goal, a first in their history.[/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]