Only once before has a goalkeeper been awarded the MVP award at the EHF FINAL4, but Barça’s own Gonzalo Perez de Vargas was elemental in his team’s success in Cologne. With 16 saves on Saturday in the semi-final against Nantes and 14 more in the final on Sunday, the 30-year-old did a perfect job to put Barça on top of Europe.
Another Spanish shot stopper, Arpad Sterbik, was the first goalkeeper to be crowned MVP at an EHF FINAL4 - in 2017, when he helped Vardar win their first EHF Champions League title.
This was Perez de Vargas’ second time lifting the EHF Champions League trophy, as he was part of the Barça team which won the title at the FINAL4 in 2011. But this weekend, he played a much bigger part than just being in the roster. In fact, Perez de Vargas has been key for Barça all season long.
And in Cologne this weekend, when he let Kevin Møller in for a few penalties, the Dane did an equally good job, giving the impression that the goalkeeping was more a team effort than anything else. But, at the end of the day, Perez de Vargas was presented the MVP award by the City of Cologne, becoming the first goalkeeper to pick up the prize.
“Gonzalo is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, he was very important this weekend. He had two incredible games, he deserves the award. He had some ups and downs during the last two years, but he worked very hard and proved this weekend he is one of the bests. I am very happy for him, it rewards the work he did during the last three seasons,” said Barça coach Xavier Pascual in the final press conference of the weekend.
