Lukaku racially insulted
Gosens suffers from final frustration because of “Kack-Tor”.
06/11/2023, 08:25 am
A DFB professional can hardly believe his luck, the other feels “totally crappy”. In the Champions League final, winning captain İlkay Gündoğan is one of Robin Gosens’ first comforters. For him, a “childhood dream” ends very bitterly. After his substitution it will be really exciting again.
Staring at him, Robin Gosens let UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin hang the medal for the runners-up around his neck, and ten seconds later he took it off again. Nothing could console the German international immediately after the narrowly missed triumph with Inter Milan in the Champions League, not even his national team-mate and Manchester City captain İlkay Gündoğan, who gave him a hug on the pitch shortly after the final whistle. “To be honest, I feel like shit,” admitted the 28-year-old after the 1-0 (0-0) draw against Manchester City in the intense final in Istanbul. “It’s just a childhood dream burst.”
Gosens almost became a final hero for the Italian cup winners. But his cross twelve minutes after his substitution did not lead to a late equalizer because striker Romelu Lukaku was unable to head the ball into the goal (88th). Unfortunately that’s football, said Gosens, “if you don’t do those things, then unfortunately you can’t win a game either”.
Lukaku was then racially insulted in the worst possible way on social media. In addition to a number of inhuman comments against the 30-year-old loan player from Chelsea, there were also reactions from numerous people who condemned these failures. Coach Simone Inzaghi did not want to make a sporting accusation against Lukaku – on the contrary: he tried to mentally build up his whole team. Such final defeats are “the worst thing in sport,” he said. Still, the players could be proud of their season and the final, “they played great”.
“A Poop Goal”
The decisive goal came from Rodrigo on the other side (68th). “A shit goal”, as Gosens found on DAZN. “It kind of fits the game that a goal like that makes the difference.” He knows that Inter, as a clear outsider, “played a huge game” and acted “at least on an equal footing” with the star ensemble around Erling Haaland and Gündoğan. “But I think that’s also why it hurts so much right now.”
But the fact that he ever made it into a Champions League final is a fairy tale for Gosens. Around ten years ago he was still watching the highlight event with his buddies in the garden. “We had a nice barbecue, had a few beers and replayed the goals in our boys’ gardens.” Now he provided all his friends with a ticket.
He now needs two days to process himself, “then the new challenge awaits me,” said Gosens. With the national team, he wants to “prove himself again” in the international matches before the summer break. He was “happy” to get another chance with national coach Hansi Flick.
Gosens also wants to “attack again and try to reach a final” in the Champions League. He was “still hungry” and still had a few years left in his career. His coach was also convinced that Inter could reach for the Henkel Cup again in the near future: “The team showed that they are ready for this competition,” said Inzaghi.