Stade de Reims head coach Will Still has, on Saturday evening, moved to back starring Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun.
For those not aware, hitman Balogun saw his name take its place centre stage in the French media headlines once more earlier today.
Unfortunately for the 21-year-old, on this occasion, however, this came for less than positive reasons.
En route to an eventual stalemate with OGC Nice, Balogun was presented with a golden opportunity to decide the clash in Reims’ favour.
This came upon Les rouges et blancs being awarded a penalty ten minutes into the 2nd-half.
Balogun, sitting pretty atop the Ligue 1 scoring charts with a head-turning 15 goals to his name across the campaign to date, in turn, stepped up to take responsibility.
55 | PEN MISSED: Nice 0-0 Reims – Balogun wins the penalty and steps up to take it. The Arsenal loanee’s initial effort is saved by Schmeichel, and under pressure, he skies the rebound.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) February 18, 2023
Speaking to the media on the back of his side’s eventual stalemate, Reims boss Will Still was therefore drawn on Balogun’s state of mind.
And the English tactician went on to throw his full support behind the Arsenal talent, confirming that he had already spoken to Balogun to assure him that even ‘the best players in the world miss a penalty at some point’.
“[Balogun] is very disappointed. Very, very disappointed, but it happens, and I told him that at the end of the match. It’s not the end of the world. The best players in the world, be it Zinédine Zidane or Thierry Henry have missed a penalty at some point. It’s part of football.”
Will Still to GFFN’s @LukeEntwistle on Folarin Balogun’s (21) mindset following his penalty miss against Nice:
“He’s very disappointed, but I told him at the end of the match that it happens and I don’t care. The best players in the world have missed.”https://t.co/ABUPQvggJM
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) February 18, 2023
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