FOOTBALL WORLD

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[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

😞💔 THE PHOTO THAT HAS HIT SO MANY FOOTBALL FANS HARD...

While his teammates celebrated the Champions League title with family, friends and unforgettable hugs, Russian goalkeeper Safonov stood alone. 🇷🇺

No smiles around him.

No one to embrace.

No one beside him in what should have been the greatest moment of his career.

And somehow, in the middle of all the celebrations, this became one of the most powerful images of the night.

⚽ Not every trophy feels the same.

💔 Not everyone lifting a cup is living their happiest moment.

Sometimes you can achieve everything on the pitch and still feel like something is missing off it.

📸 One photo.

A Champions League trophy.

A stadium full of celebrations.

And yet, all many people could see was a man standing alone.

😔 FOOTBALL CAN BE BEAUTIFUL... AND HEARTBREAKING AT THE SAME TIME.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

🔴 Samuel Eto’o congratulates Ousmane Dembélé after he won his second Champions League: 🦁🇨🇲

« My very dear son Ousman,

I am deeply moved, for I realize once again that life always ends up rendering justice to merit, to work, and to perseverance.

I remember as if it were yesterday the exchange we had at a time when the horizons of your career were not yet fully clarified. Today, contemplating the path traveled, I measure with admiration the extent of your evolution and the strength of your achievement.

I feel privileged that you chose to seek my advice at that moment in your journey, but even more so, I am happy to see that you knew how to give full value to what you already carried within you. You believed in your qualities, you worked with humility, rigor, and determination, never giving up on moving forward.

My son, you are blessed among the blessed. May God continue to guide each of your steps, watch over your path, and raise you ever higher toward the summits destined for you.

I am immensely proud of you, not only for the successes you are reaping today, but above all for the man of worth you have become, believe me…

With all my affection, my trust, and my pride.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

🇫🇷💰 Back in 2011, Nasser Al-Khelaifi bought PSG for around $70–100 million.

Today, the club is valued at over $5 billion and has become one of the biggest football brands on the planet.

For years, PSG were mocked for spending crazy money on blockbuster signings like Neymar (€222M), Mbappé (€180M) and a long list of superstars, yet they still couldn't get their hands on European glory.

But even after all those disapointments, the project never stopped.

The investment kept coming. The vision stayed the same.

And then, once they stopped relying entirely on superstar names, PSG finally reached the summit.

🏆 Champions League winners in 2024/25.

They went through Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal before smashing Inter 5-0 in the final.

🔥 And then they followed it up by winning a second straight Champions League.

Under Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG became a money-making machine, generating more than €800 million a year and transforming from a club mocked for "burning cash" into a global powerhouse.

🏆 From being laughed at... to setting the standard.

PSG didn't just make history.

They rewrote their own.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

Ibrahima Konaté 🇫🇷 opens up about the loss of his father, Hamady. 😢

« During the start of the season, my father was in the hospital for several weeks.

In my situation, I didn't know what to do. Go home? Stop playing? The team needed me...

I didn't know who to talk to about it; I kept everything to myself.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

Imagine being a millionaire at 21, having won two Champions Leagues, and being with the love of your life.

João Neves is the perfect representation of every man's dream. The guy plays football, is one of the best in the world, underrated, wins everything at club level, shares a locker room with Cristiano Ronaldo—his biggest idol—when playing for his national team, and then comes home to the woman of his dreams.

Stay with someone who admires and shows you off the way Magdalena admires and shows off João Neves.

This is beyond winning at life—he's completed the game.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

🔴 Samuel Eto’o congratulates Ousmane Dembélé after he won his second Champions League: 🦁🇨🇲

« My very dear son Ousman,

I am deeply moved, for I realize once again that life always ends up rendering justice to merit, to work, and to perseverance.

I remember as if it were yesterday the exchange we had at a time when the horizons of your career were not yet fully clarified. Today, contemplating the path traveled, I measure with admiration the extent of your evolution and the strength of your achievement.

I feel privileged that you chose to seek my advice at that moment in your journey, but even more so, I am happy to see that you knew how to give full value to what you already carried within you. You believed in your qualities, you worked with humility, rigor, and determination, never giving up on moving forward.

My son, you are blessed among the blessed. May God continue to guide each of your steps, watch over your path, and raise you ever higher toward the summits destined for you.

I am immensely proud of you, not only for the successes you are reaping today, but above all for the man of worth you have become, believe me…

With all my affection, my trust, and my pride.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

🇵🇹 QUARESMA DOESN’T HOLD BACK: “WHEN RONALDO PLAYS, OPPONENTS FEEL FÈAR. HE HAS TO START!”

Ricardo Quaresma gave a brũtǎlly honest take on Cristiano Ronaldo’s impact for Portugal:

“I’m not saying this because he’s my friend. I’m saying it as someone who truly understands football: Cristiano HAS to start.

Take him out of the lineup… and who replaces him? Guedes? Leão? Ramos? Fantastic players, of course. But when you step onto the pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo beside you, the entire atmosphere changes. The respect. The fèar. The pressure on the opponent. It’s just different.

Just seeing Ronaldo on the pitch already affects the other team mentally. Opponents know that one single m!stake… ONE… and he’ll punish you instantly. That’s the kind of player he is.

For me, as long as Cristiano is still giving everything for Portugal, he should ALWAYS be in the starting XI.”

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

🇧🇷✈️ ABSOLUTE CINEMA!!!

Brazil's plane was blessed before taking off for the World Cup.

It's a special tradition that's often carried out before major tournaments, new airline routes or flights that mean something truly special.

A moment full of faith, emotion and good wishes before the biggest journey of all begins.

Football is more than just what happens on the pitch.

Good luck, Brazil. 🇧🇷💛💚

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

⌚️ NO WAY... Luis Enrique actually did it.

Before the Champions League final, he made a promise to his players:

"Win this match, and I'll buy every one of you a Rolex."

The squad went out, won the Champions League...

And Luis Enrique KEPT HIS WORD.

Every player reportedly received a Rolex worth around €50,000.

🗣️ “At half-time, I told the players to stay PATIENT.”

🗣️ “I said: ‘If you win this match, I’ll buy each of you a Rolex.’”

They won.

And he delivered.

Say what you want about Luis Enrique, but when he gives his word, he stands by it. 👏⌚️

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

😞 Imagine being turned down just because you're Georgian.

➖ Willy Sagnol on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia:

“I was trying to recommend Kvaratskhelia to clubs all over Europe and people kept telling me:

‘A Georgian player? Seriously?’

‘He’s not Brazilian. He’s not English. He’s not Spanish. Where’s the appeal? Why take the r!sk?’

And now... just look at him.

From being overlooked and rejècted because of his nationality, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has become one of the best players on the planet. 🌍

Football can be brutâlly unfair sometimes.

But talent always finds a way.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

🤩🙌 LUIS ENRIQUE REALLY IS ONE OF A KIND!

As PSG's players queued up to take their photos with the Champions League trophy, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia stepped forward for his moment.

He was simply smiling for the cameras until Luis Enrique signalled for him to pull off his trademark celebration.

Kvaratskhelia instantly did it.

And Luis Enrique? He couldn't stop smiling.

It was only a small moment, but it told you everything you needed to know about the relationship between those two.

Luis Enrique was the man who believed in the Georgian star. He saw something special in him, trusted him, and made him a key part of PSG's project.

Now they've won back-to-back Champions League titles together.

This is about more than a manager and a player.

It's about trust. It's about belief. It's about understanding.

And in the end, it's about two people who backed each other all the way to the top of European football.

THIS is what real respect looks like. ❤️🏆

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

Messi: "Mbappé said the Euro is harder than the World Cup? He also said that the South American teams don't have the same competition as the Europeans. Everyone values what they play...

Euro is very important, but Mbappe forgets Argentina, three times world champion, Brazil, five times world champion, Uruguay, two times world champion. There are plenty of world champions excluded from saying the Euros are the hǎrdest, isn't it?

During the World Cup, the best teams are there, all the champions of the world are usually present. That's why everyone wants to be world champion."

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

The difference between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.

Mourinho seeks out the difficult jobs. Tottenham, Roma, Fenerbahce. Clubs with problems, pressure, and no guarantee of success. He takes struggling players and makes them better.

Guardiola goes where resources are unlimited and the squad is already stocked with world-class talent. Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City. He has never had to make do.

Mourinho builds. Guardiola polishes.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

@JoBen84047970 🤩🔥

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

PSG spent just €85 million on two midfielders... and ended up building the best midfield in world football. 🇵🇹

✅ Vitinha signed for €30 million.
✅ João Neves signed for €55 million.

Today?

Both are worth €110 million each.

🏆 Back-to-back Champions League titles.
🏆 Complete control of the midfield.
🏆 The heartbeat of this PSG side.

While other clubs spend hundreds of millions searching for the next superstar, PSG found two diamonds and built an empire around them.

Vitinha and João Neves €85 million well spent.

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

🚨🎙 Sergio Ramos:

“I spent my whole career going to wâr with Lionel Messi. Tackling him, f!ghting him, trying to stop him… and trust me, Leo hǎunted me for over a decade.

When he left, I honestly thought Real Madrid could finally breathe again.

But now I watch 18-year-old Lamine Yamal… and I swear, it’s that same mag!c all over again.

It’s like the pitch at Camp Nou is enchǎnted, bro.

You spend years surviving against one al!en… and then La Masia casually creates another one. No way.

You just have to respect that club. Their football DNA never d!es.”

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

Zlatan Ibrahimović: “To the younger generation I want to say, dare to dream big. If you don't have the power to dream big, lean into my journey and take power from it. I am living proof that nothing is impossible regardless of where you come from.”

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

In 2024, Jurgen Klopp was offered a huge amount of money to do punditry on TV for the Champions League final but he turned it down.

He was offered to be UEFA's VVIP for the final but he turned it down.

His response was “Eden Terzic was always there to support my Dortmund, so I’m going as a fan to support his Dortmund.”

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

@heynow19951 @razorblade300 😂😂

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

The quiet and genuinely beautiful heart of Mohamed Salah’s wife 🥺❤️

People always talk about footballers’ wives in a certain way… but Magi Sadeq is completely different.

When Mohamed Salah proposed to her, she had already graduated in Biotechnology from Alexandria University, while Salah himself was still just a young footballer trying to make it, with an uncertain future and barely any money.

Born in 1994 in Nagrig, Egypt, into a family of teachers, Magi met Salah back in school. She stayed by his side when his move to Zamalek c0llapsed at the very last minute. That moment hit him hârd mentally, but she kept supporting him and backed his decision to move to FC Basel after that.

They got married in December 2013 in their hometown. Even after Salah became one of the biggest football stars on the planet, Magi chose to stay completely private and hold onto her traditional values, including wearing the hijab.

Alongside raising their two daughters, Makka and Kayan, she also helps run Salah’s charity foundation in Nagrig. They support struggling families and even help fund weddings for couples who can’t afford them.

And honestly… the way Salah talks about her says everything.

In a TV interview, he once admitted:

“I’m unfair to Magi because my job means I can only give her a very small part of my time. I want to thank her for all her support and for being in my life.”

No way you can’t respect that kind of love and loyalty ❤️

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

@martharbelie 🙌

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

@temcnazgat 🙌

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

🚨🗣️ | Khvicha Kvaratskhelia after winning the UEFA Champions League Player of the Season award:

"This is a dream come true for me. Ever since I was a little kid, I watched Cristiano Ronaldo dom!nate this competition. Every Champions League night, I'd see him scoring goals, breaking records and leading his teams to glory. Watching him succeed as both a winger and a striker, and doing it at different clubs, was incredible. He made me believe that one day I could do something special in this competition too."

"Winning this award and lifting the Champions League trophy again is something I can't even describe. Winning it twice is something I only dreamed about when I was young. Every time I walk onto a Champions League pitch, I think about those nights watching Ronaldo and imagining myself on the biggest stage in football."

"Cristiano has always been my idol and, for me, he is the greatest footballer of all time. I've always admired his mentality, his discipline and his obsession with getting better every single day. Throughout my career, I've tried to follow the example he set."

"To see my own name associated with success in this competition means everything to me, because it all started with watching Cristiano Ronaldo."

[FOOTBALL WORLD @fbworld23]

@JustLoveGilrs Exactly