Romain Saïss speaks out about Brahim Diaz: "He wanted to be the superhero" and ruined everything

A few days after officially announcing his international retirement, Romain Saïss opened up to the YouTube channel "Colinterview". The former central defender shared his bitterness regarding the penalty missed by Brahim Diaz during the 2025 AFCON final, a particularly painful memory for Moroccan football.

The former Atlas Lions captain remembers his immediate stupefaction on the pitch at the moment of the Madrid player’s attempt. "I said to myself: He didn’t just do that. I turned around immediately, I put my head in my hands," he explained, expressing the general incomprehension in the face of this technical choice.

For Saïss, the mistake lies not in the failure itself, but in the deemed inappropriate risk-taking. He recalls that experienced players like Achraf Hakimi or Hakim Ziyech have also failed in the past. "That’s part of football. But when he did the panenka, I said: No, you can’t do that now," he insists. A "superhero" gesture that deprives Morocco of the trophy.

The defender regrets that this attempt has spoiled an opportunity for national celebration. According to his analysis, Brahim Diaz "could have been the hero, but he wanted to be the superhero," specifying that a simple shot down the middle would probably have been enough to lift the trophy and return home to celebrate the title.

The former Wolverhampton player believes that this episode unfortunately tarnishes the overall competition of the Madrid player. He hopes that this mistake will serve as a lesson for the rest of his career, while affirming that he does not hold a personal grudge against him despite the frustration of seeing the title slip away in this way.

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