Donnarumma “too embarrassed to say anything to Cristiano”
The AC Milan keeper told RAI Sport that he was too tongue-tied to speak to Cristiano Ronaldo when he crossed paths with the Juventus star in a recent game.
Gianluigi Donnarumma returns to San Siro on Saturday but with Italy rather than AC Milan. The young goalkeeper will be attempting to keep Portugal out in matchday 4 of Group 3 in the UEFA Nations League. A Portugal who will be without Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored past the keeper at San Siro last week as Juve ran out 0-2 winners against Milan.
Left speechless
In an interview with Rai Sport Donnarumma described the moment he crossed paths with Cristiano during last week's match but admitted being too tongue-tied to say anything. "It was a real buzz. I always play against him on the Play Station. I didn't say anything to him because I was too embarrassed, the big stars, champions like Cristiano make you grow in stature".
El Pipita red card
Donnarumma also spoke about Gonzalo Higuaín who was sent off in the meeting with his former club. "Higuaín is a good guy, after the game he apologised to all of us and to the press. It was a very important game for him. He knows he made a mistake and must try not to repeat it in future. He also went over to say sorry to the ref and linesmen. Gattuso didn't say anything to him he just let him get it off his chest. He really regretted what he did. He needs to stay calm so he can give us a hand and I'm sure that's what he'll do".
Ref assaulted
The keeper also spoke about the attack on a referee in the Lazio region which has rocked Italian football: "It's disgraceful. I was watching TV with Insigne and when we saw the news report we were lost for words. It's a very serious offence which should never happen again".