Sport
Ancelotti Claims Real Madrid’s Game Wasn’t Good Except for Mbappé’s Goal
Carlo Ancelotti, manager of Real Madrid, praised Kylian Mbappé despite his team’s disappointing 5-2 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday.
Ancelotti expressed his disappointment with the overall performance but noted Mbappé’s standout contribution in the match.
The French forward, who joined Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain, gave his team an early lead in the 5th minute with a well-taken goal.
He also earned a penalty for the Los Blancos, showing his continued impact on the field.
However, Barcelona quickly turned the game around, with goals from Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Alejandro Balde before the break, and Raphinha added a fifth shortly after halftime.
Ancelotti admitted the match was frustrating, noting that even with an extra player, Real Madrid struggled to find solutions.
“The game was not good from the first minute to the last,” he said. “I’m sad about the game as a whole.
I can’t take anything away from it except Mbappé’s performance, who scored a great goal in a good move.”
Looking ahead, Ancelotti urged his team to forget the defeat and focus on their next challenge.
Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey has opened up about a difficult period in his career, revealing that he almost stepped away from football.
Speaking during a recent interview, Bassey shared that he once made a personal promise to himself to quit pursuing football professionally if he failed to secure a spot at a professional club.
“I remember being 15 and going into my final year, and I told myself that if I didn’t get into a professional club, I would quit football. It was that simple,” he said.
“I would just stop pursuing it seriously and only play for fun. Thank God I eventually got a club, because I honestly don’t know where I would be otherwise.”
It has been reported that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) fined Egypt $5,000 following their clash with Zimbabwe for failing to manage post-match media obligations.
It was noted that after the match, the Egyptian players ignored the media. This action was said to be a violation of CAF’s media regulations, which led to the fine being imposed.
Head of the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, shared that the big-name players on the team are not happy about being benched.
He recalled when he took out Samuel Chukwueze during the match against Tanzania.
“Yes, of course, we’ve in this team a lot of big names. They are competitors; they aren’t happy when they go to the bench,” Chelle said at his post-match interview.”
“My job is to make choices, and we’re playing a 4-4-2 diamond, and at this moment I feel we have to protect the wing.”
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