Following Senegal’s victory over Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final, Monza forward Keita Balde has offered a candid perspective on Real Madrid star Brahim Díaz’s unsuccessful “Panenka” penalty attempt.
While Kylian Mbappe recently showed solidarity by dedicating a successful league penalty to Díaz, the miss remains a point of heavy analysis given its impact on Morocco’s title hopes.
Balde, speaking on DAZN, praised Díaz’s courage but admitted he would have opted for a more powerful approach under such high stakes, stating,
“If I have a penalty in my country in the final, I’ll smash it in. You have to beat even the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper and the ball inside, both of them.”
Despite his preference for power, Balde defended the creative choice as a matter of high-risk prestige, concluding, “I respect that. If you score it, you’re a star, but if you don’t, you look bad.”