Former Watford striker Troy Deeney has heaped praise on Gabriel Magalhaes following Arsenal’s penalty shoot-out loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.
The Gunners went into the game in Budapest as underdogs, and many anticipated them to suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of PSG. However, the game had a different complexion.
Kai Havertz scored early in the sixth minute from a tight angle. Ousmane Dembele eventually levelled the scores for PSG after the hour mark following a penalty conceded by Cristhian Mosquera.
Arsenal regained their composure and took the game to penalties, where PSG came on top 4-3. Eberechi Eze squandered one of the spot kicks, but Gabriel’s miss at the end made the headlines.
Speaking to CBC Sports Golazo after the game, Deeney said that Gabriel has absolutely nothing to apologise for. He added that ‘he was a ‘monster’ again and the best player on the pitch.
Deeney said: “Yeah, he will want the ground to swallow him up. He’ll probably be in the dressing room now apologising, and then has absolutely nothing to apologise for.
“He missed a penalty… but he was a monster again. Big tackles, big headers. He’s probably been the best player on the pitch in my opinion.
“When you miss those moments, and this is where the modern players needs to be really strong. Because it doesn’t matter about the dressing room — ‘Unlucky’ — here we go again.
“All of that. You all feel a bit down. Now it’s social media, now it’s every single newspaper, every single outlet, like ourselves. We’re all going to be talking about it.
“But he has the character. And one beauty of it, he got a World Cup.
“So we have a week now of feeling sorry for himself. Unfortunately, it is gonna go into the national team in Brazil. They say, ‘Right, yeah, we are here to win.’ So that’s a good thing for him.”
The £23 million signing has been one of the Gunners’ standout performers this campaign. He was brilliant defensively against PSG, winning 100 percent of his ground and aerial duels.
The centre-back also made a staggering 13 clearances with three recoveries. He hardly put a foot wrong in regulation time and will still be disappointed at missing a crucial penalty in the shootout.
Gabriel came forward for the fifth spotkick ahead of Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke, and it was just not meant to be. The fans will no doubt show their love at the trophy parade this afternoon.
The 28-year-old, on the other hand, will be motivated after the Champions League final setback and could play a key role in Brazil’s defence as they seek their first World Cup crown since 2002.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com