Reactions after the elimination in the Belgian cup

Cheik Tioté was very disappointed after the cup match against Verbroedering Geel, after failing to score the decisive penalty kick. However, his team mates supported him very well.


Christian Wilhelmsson was the first one to defend the young player. "Don't kill him, he is only 19", he stated. His manager, Serge Trimpont, and Vincent Kompany stayed with him until 1 am. "I told him: forget about that penalty kick. The best players can miss a penalty kick: Platini, Maradona,..."

Tioté himself reacted: "I had a bad night. But I am feeling better today. My team mates were a great help to me."

Mbo Mpenza blamed the rest of the team: "I took my responsibility, but some players did not. It a good thing a young player wants to show responsibility, but others players should have done that."

Daniël Zitka: "I did my job. If my team mates had done that, penalty kicks would not have been necessary. You need luck to stop a penalty kick as a goalkeeper. And Geel kicked them well."