It was one of the strong images of the last Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal (1-1, 4 tab 3). The two teams were decided during the penalty shootout and it was the Parisians who were jubilant after Gabriel’s failed attempt. But very quickly, while his teammates were jumping in all directions to celebrate the second consecutive European championship title, Marquinhos immediately went to comfort Gabriel. Since then, the two men have joined the Seleção in the United States and Marquinhos took advantage of a press conference to return to this event and explain that the Gunner’s miss had reminded him of a trauma in his career: his missed shot on goal which caused the elimination of Brazil against Croatia during the 2022 World Cup.
“I told him to keep his head high, that he had had an incredible season, that he had been the best defender in the world this season. And that he didn’t deserve to carry this weight alone. That nothing from this moment would erase the wonderful season he had had and that we would really need him here (in the United States, editor’s note). I was already ready to celebrate, but from my first steps in the race, I had this image of Gabi that came back to my mind, it’s the same image I had when I myself missed my shot during the 2022 World Cup, and at that moment, I turned to my teammate for empathy. As I myself experienced a difficult moment like this, I know what weight it represents, it is part of our career; then, as the days go by, we manage to digest it all better and this scar becomes a source of motivation. But this moment is very difficult, especially when you have the hope of scoring the penalty. I don’t know how important it was for him, but for me it was difficult. As I would have liked to receive a hug at that moment, I left the party for a few minutes to go hug him. I can talk about how I felt after missing a shot on goal in the World Cup: I felt a huge weight. The next day, I received a message from him thanking me for this moment, for my support, for the hug, for the words I had spoken to him. I told him that it had been my biggest victory that evening, that it was nice to see the response it had: my mother came, proud of what I had done, my wife, my family, my brothers. It was the best title I won that evening. We, the players, have to move on very quickly, we don’t have time to dwell on what we’ve already experienced. I can’t stay partying forever, we already have other things to do here, and so does he.”
