Former PSG winger Jerome Rothen has blasted Brahim Diaz after his disastrous Panenka penalty during the AFCON 2026 final. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, Diaz clearly wanted to humiliate Senegal with his panenka penalty, and the scandalous attempt showed a total lack of respect for the Moroccan fans’ 50-year wait for silverware.
Jerome added that the manner of Diaz’s miss was unforgivable given the context of the match and the desperation of the home crowd.
His words, “He can cry all he wants. When you decide to take a penalty in that way, at that minute, with all the pressure, all that it represents… You had 70,000 Moroccans in the stadium and I’m not even talking about the millions who were watching the match. They have been waiting for this for 50 years. You knew that if you scored this penalty, it was over. You can miss a penalty, it has happened to very great players, but in this way, it is scandalous.
Too bad for him, he didn’t respect football. He wanted to humiliate the Senegalese… When you take a penalty, a Panenka, it is premeditated. You want to humiliate them. Taking the penalty in that way is pulling the blanket to himself. The way of shooting, it was to humiliate and it is to say: ‘I made Morocco win’. That, that bothers me.”
WOW.
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