Manchester City and France full-back Bacary Sagna
Manchester City and France full-back Bacary Sagna has revealed that he still experiences disappointment after losing the Euro 2016 at the final hurdle.
As the home team, France were one of the favourites to do well at the European championships but there was also a danger of the national team repeating its mistakes of recent major tournaments. Despite having the quality, France were a major disappointment in recent major tournaments because of indiscipline. This made manager Didier Deschamps very focused on the fact that he was going to take only non-troublemakers rather than quality names.
This did prove to be a right decision throughout the tournament except in the final when the team lost to Portugal in a tightly fought contest. Cristiano Ronaldo managed to lift his first major international trophy even though he missed most of the match after an early injury. The biggest disappointment for France was that they were unable to take advantage of Ronaldo’s absence. Portugal managed a narrow 1-0 win over the hosts after extra time with Eder scoring the decisive goal.Sagna has tried to put behind that disappointment by trying to focus on life in the Premier league under Pep Guardiola. The former Barcelona manager has just taken over at the Etihad stadium and has already spent more than £ 100 million on new signings.
“I’m very upset.I’m thinking about it every day. But that’s football. You have to accept losing. I cried after the final because it was a big chance for me to win the competition with my country.I felt bad for him[Ronaldo], because when such a big player gets injured, it’s never good.I think the Portuguese players were thinking about him and wanted to give their maximum for him,” said the City defender, who has 64 caps with the national team.
GUARDIOLA: YAYA TOURE IS GOING NOWHERE THIS SUMMER
The Sky Blues boss Pep Guardiola says that Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure won’t be leaving the club this summer as widely expected.
The former Bayern Munich boss said that the 33-year old player is too important to leave the club just yet. He said the player has a very vital role to play as he tries to rebuild the club.
The Spaniard wants the former Barcelona player to help his team mates learn the tactics he is believed would introduce to the club’s pattern of play. Guardiola made his peace with the player after he sold him off when he took over at Barcelona six years ago.
Guardiola sold the player to the Etihad for £24 million and since joining the play maker has won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and two Capital One Cup.
It was widely reported that the player would complete the move to Inter Milan but the deal fell through as Guardiola asked him to remain at the Etihad. He says he wants to implement the football philosophy he worked with at the Catalan club in England and wants the help of the player. Mirror reports that one of the first the coach said to the African Nations Cup winner was that he wanted him to work with him on and off the pitch.
Toure’s performance was beginning to dip and his showing in the last campaign was below his best but the source at the News outlet said the player is refreshed and is eager to see him contract off with the club on a good note. Former coach Roberto Mancini was keen on the player joining his team this summer but is now forced to think up options quick in light of the disappointment.