Lyon (AFP)

International with Portugal, Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes suffers from a relative lack of notoriety in his parents' country of origin. But after his rescues against Manchester City on Saturday (3-1), he hopes to continue to shine in Lisbon on Wednesday in the semi-final against Bayern.

It's a great revenge for the doorman: against Benfica, last October 24 at the Luz stadium in the group stage of the C1, a gross error of revival by hand at the end of the game, had caused his team to lose ( 2-1).

Bad luck for Lopes (28), who had already missed his official debut with the Portuguese team in a friendly in March 2015 against Cape Verde, in a substitute team (2-0 defeat).

These recent performances under the eyes of Portuguese fans have fueled doubts about his qualities and may have prompted him to avoid appearing at a press conference on Friday before the game against City to avoid any additional pressure.

Besides the fact that Portuguese fans have rarely seen him fit, or seen him play, the OL-trained goalkeeper has not played in any Lusitanian club, even if he chose Portugal as a sporting nationality from the age of 16 years old before being selected in all youth categories.

And the poor follow-up of French football in Portugal does not help the porter, born in Givors (Lyon metropolis) and arrived at OL at the age of 9 in 2000.

In short, Lopes has against him the handicap of not having worn the colors of Sporting, Benfica or FC Porto, the three major clubs of the country, while he himself would rather be a supporter of FC Braga, a region in the north of the country whose his family is native.

- Return possible to selection -

His story with the Portuguese selection A, however, began in 2013, a year after his professional debut in Lyon (2012).

European champion in 2016 without having played a single match, helmed by Rui Patricio (32), Anthony Lopes, one of the few bi-nationals of the Seleção, has, after the World Cup-2018, put his story on hold. with the national team for family reasons.

His return, initially planned for last March but postponed due to the health crisis, should finally take place next September, as he suggested. But in the meantime, the Lyon goalkeeper wants to continue dreaming big in the Champions League.

His saves against Manchester City (6 in total) and his safety in front of his line contributed to the qualification of OL for the semi-finals, even if he was also well helped by an improbable failure of Raheem Sterling, alone in front the empty cage at the end of the game.

"We play football to experience matches like this and to go as far as possible in the competitions we play," he said after the match.

"It's incredible. We are clearly the surprise team. We deserve to be there. We still beat this great Manchester City team," he said, already looking to the semi-final against the dreaded Bayern Munich attack. The opportunity to stand out again in front of Portuguese opinion?

© 2020 AFP