Jose Sa’s Portugal call-up this month felt belated to those who have watched him for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
That is not to decry the merits of Diogo Costa or Anthony Lopes (playing for two big European-level clubs in Porto and Lyon) behind regular No 1 and Wolves old boy Rui Patricio in the pecking order. It just felt like if Sa can consistently play this well in one of the top leagues in the world and not get summoned by his country, when will he?
An injury to Lopes means Sa, who also replaced him in the November squad for the same reason, has got in eventually. But it will take another knock or two for him to finally earn his first cap at the age of 29, with Patricio looking certain to start the single-leg World Cup qualification play-offs semi-final against Turkey in Porto tomorrow (Thursday).
Sa has not been perfect this season (he made what was probably his worst, or at least hardest to explain, error when going walkabout for Leeds United’s equaliser in their 3-2 win at Molineux on Friday) but befuddlement over his omission, not just from Wolves fans but also Portugal followers, reflects a stellar first campaign in English football.
It is not just the saves. It is the aggression, the distribution, the positivity, he has got just about everything in his armoury, a type of goalkeeper rarely seen at Wolves before.
Looking back over the past 20 or 30 years, the club have a proud recent history of exceptional keepers, not least from its academy in Matt Murray, Wayne Hennessey and Carl Ikeme, but signings including Mike Stowell, John Ruddy, Marcus Hahnemann and Patricio.
And while it is far too early to be ranking Sa in terms of the great Wolves goalkeepers, it is fair to say his wide-ranging skill set puts him right up there.
What we can decipher, or at least suggest, is that Sa is the summer signing who has made the biggest positive difference to Wolves’ XI this season.
