Veteran sports journalist Dan Kwaku Yeboah has said that he is astonished by the massive jubilation among football fans in Ghana and other African countries after Barcelona were knocked out of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League.
According to him, the Barcelona team, which has a majority of young players, deserved to be encouraged and motivated rather than subjected to public ridicule by fans worldwide, especially those in Africa.
The staunch Barcelona fan noted that the defeat hurt him so much that he had a sleepless night because he was confident the Catalan club would win the game.
“A team that is using young players to play against an experienced and grown side like Inter Milan, and people were against us – what have we done? It’s difficult to understand why Barcelona have so much hatred in Africa, and I need to find out.
“I was with about 30 people watching the game, but Barca fans weren’t up to five. The annoying thing is that most of those jubilating are not loyal Milan supporters; they are just envious of our success. It really pained me, and I struggled to sleep,” he said in Twi while speaking on Peace FM.
The former winner of the SWAG Sports Journalist of the Year award blamed Barcelona’s defeat on coach Hansi Flick’s poor substitutions and referee Szymon Marciniak’s biased officiating.
“The coach, too, at a time when we were leading, why would you bring on Lewandowski? The referee was also biased. Yamal was fouled, but the he ignored it,” he added.
Barcelona were eliminated from the Champions League after losing to Inter Milan on a 7-6 aggregate score, which elicited massive celebrations from football fans.
Watch Kwaku Yeboah’s remarks below:
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