Goalkeeper denies claims that Real Madrid star deliberately missed penalty | OneFootball

Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz was left bitterly disappointed on Sunday, as his Morocco side fell short in their bid to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. The host nation were defeated by Senegal, with Villarreal midfielder Pape Gueye scoring the only goal of the game in the opening stages of extra time.

Prior to that, Brahim had a glorious chance to win the final. He was awarded a penalty after being brought down by El Hadji Malick Diouf, which prompted Senegal to leave the field of player for several minutes in protest. When the action did get back underway, the 26-year-old failed with a Panenka effort.

The manner of the penalty led to questions that Brahim deliberately the effort, given that the initial foul was soft. However, these claims were strongly denied by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (via MD), who saved the spot-kick.

“No, of course not. You have to be serious. Do you really think that with one minute to go and with a country that has been waiting for a title for 50 years, we can agree? He wanted to score and I have the credit for having saved him, that’s all.

“He tried. I tried to stay balanced in the centre of the goal for as long as possible. Luck smiled on us. We kept the team in the game.”

Image via Angel Martinez/Getty Images

Brahim will need to dust himself off back at Real Madrid

Brahim will now return to Real Madrid, with whom he could be involved on Tuesday when AS Monaco head to the Bernabeu in the Champions League. He will hope to put this moment out of his mind as soon as possible, and he will have chances to do so, given that Los Blancos have a number of important matches to contend with over the coming weeks.