Former Nigerian defender Ifeanyi Udeze had some words for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Joao Neves after the Portuguese international was shown a red card for violent conduct during Les Parisiens’ Club World Cup final defeat to Chelsea, Footynaija.com reports.
Goals from Cole Palmer and summer signing Joao Pedro consigned Luis Enrique’s all conquering Paris Saint-Germain to a damning 3-0 defeat despite the French giants entering the game as clear favourites.
With the game not going according to plan for Les Parisiens, Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves let his frustrations show when he pulled Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella’s hair after the Spaniard appeared to bump into him off the ball.
Following that incident, center referee Alireza Faghani, pulled out a yellow card to caution the young midfielder. However, after the intervention of the video assistant referees, Faghani announced Neves’ sending off for violent conduct.
Weighing in on the incident, Udeze acknowledged that the actions of Cucurella may have been provoking for Neves, but advised the UEFA Nations League winner to always maintain his calm no matter the circumstances.
“I do agree Cucurella deserves a yellow card, but the truth is you don’t retaliate that way, not in that manner,” Udeze said via Sporty TV.
“If you do so, then for sure, the referee would get angry. The referee is in charge of the game, so you don’t retaliate. Whatever happens, you don’t take revenge for yourself.
“When you’re three goals down in a final like this, for sure, you’ll get angry, and whatever happens you want to retaliate, you want to show your anger, but sometimes you need to keep your cool.
“You don’t need to do that. You’re a role model to a lot of people, to many players, so you must try as much as you can to remain calm.”
Despite already racking up over 150 appearances and enjoying success at both international and club level, Neves is still only 20 years old. No doubt, he’s got so much to learn and Sunday’s incident will certainly serve as a huge lesson for the youngster.