Pele told Kylian Mbappe to "keep your head up" after the France striker missed the shoot-out penalty that condemned Les Bleus to an early exit from Euro 2020.
As Switzerland celebrated a stunning win in Bucharest, prevailing on spot-kicks after a breathtaking 3-3 draw in the round of 16, Brazil great Pele had sympathy for misfiring Mbappe, who endured a miserable tournament.
Although Mbappe has established himself among the best strikers in the world with Paris Saint-Germain, he failed to find the back of the net in four games at these European finals.
The 22-year-old seemed fated to flounder from the spot once the game went to penalties, and that was how it proved, Mbappe stepping up with France trailing 5-4 and seeing his strike saved by Yann Sommer.
"Keep your head up, Kylian!" Pele wrote on Twitter. "Tomorrow is the first day of a new journey, @KMbappe"
Mbappe said in a late-night Instagram post that it would be "hard to sleep but sadly these are the risks of this sport that I love so much".
He failed to score in the tournament despite taking 14 shots. At the point of France's tournament exit, only Cristiano Ronaldo (five goals from 15 shots) and Alvaro Morata (two goals from 15 shots) had taken more goal attempts in the Euros.
A World Cup winner with France as a 19-year-old, this time Mbappe experienced the bitter disappointment of tournament football.
As France licked their wounds, Switzerland began to look forward to a quarter-final against Spain in St Petersburg on Friday.
Switzerland head coach Vladimir Petkovic said his team's win was "very pleasing and very significant".
"I wasn't able to speak and talk towards the end of the match. I was done, I'd lost my voice," Petkovic told a news conference.
"But the team over the 120 minutes did a fantastic job with this readiness to fight for the team and we managed to impose our game and follow our match plan.
"We had enough fuel in the tank, maybe more than France, and we showed that over the 120 minutes."
Petkovic suggested he had probably sweated out "a couple of litres" during the game.
He said: "After such a great success you're happy and satisfied – this was the icing on the cake, a penalty shoot-out, and it was the only penalty Yann saved and I was happy for the team but I needed a lot of emotions over the 120 minutes and such a victory helps us mentally and also in terms of recognition.
"This team showed the willingness and has the power to go even further."
France led 3-1 when Paul Pogba hit a stunning 25-yard strike in the 75th minute, after an earlier Karim Benzema double, but Haris Seferovic's second goal of the game was followed by a late leveller by Mario Gavranovic.
"For normal people and players it's impossible to turn it around again, but we were a super class team," Petkovic said.
"With such a performance and commitment you can't be not satisfied, but now we've reached a new level and I will ask my team to do the same again and again."
Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham wins Laureus award
Jude Bellingham joined Novak Djokovic and Aitana Bonmati as the big winners at the Laureus World Sports Awards as the England midfielder won the World Breakthrough of the Year prize in Madrid.
Bellingham became the first footballer to claim the honour the day after scoring Real Madrid’s late winner in their 3-2 El Clasico victory over Barcelona.
The 20-year-old has had an outstanding first season at Real since joining from Borussia Dortmund last summer, scoring 21 goals in all competitions.
Djokovic was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record-equalling fifth time after winning the Australian Open, French Open and US Open to lead the way with 24 grand slam men’s singles titles.
“I am incredibly honoured to have won my fifth Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award,” said Djokovic.
“I think back to 2012, when I won it for the first time as a 24-year-old. I am very proud to be here 12 years later, reflecting on a year that brought me and my fans a lot of excitement and success.
“It was thrilling to return to Australia last January and win my 10th title. It is a tournament that is so dear to my heart and set me up for an incredible 12 months.
“I could not have achieved so much success without an incredible team behind me, and inspirational rivals who have always pushed me to be the best version of myself.”
Bonmati took to the stage twice to collect two awards – the first footballer to win the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year trophy and also represent the Spain team which won the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
She said: “It is humbling to see the list of previous winners of this award.
“From Serena Williams to Simone Biles, Lindsey Vonn, Naomi Osaka and last year’s winner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, they are all incredible athletes who have not only excelled in their chosen sports, but been incredible role models for younger generations of young women and girls.
“As the first women’s team to win the Laureus, we are proud of our status as pioneers and as a group we are as committed to equality and representation as we are to what we do on the football pitch.”
American gymnast Biles, a three-time winner of Sportswoman of the Year, won the World Comeback of the Year Award.
Biles collected four gold medals at the World Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, her first global event since leaving the Tokyo Olympics due to mental health issues and entering a near two-year break from the sport she had dominated.
Other award winners were Rafael Nadal (Sport for Good), Diede de Groot (World Sportsperson of the Year with a disability) and Arisa Trew (World Action Sportsperson of the Year).
:: The 25th Laureus World Sports Awards took place on Monday 22 April in Madrid, celebrating the leading names in sport from across the globe. To find out more, visit www.laureus.com.
FA seeks ‘formal observations’ from Forest trio over comments about officiating
Nottingham Forest face the threat of Football Association and Premier League charges over their extraordinary attack on the officiating of their match against Everton on Sunday.
Three Forest members of staff – head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, referee analyst Mark Clattenburg and full-back Neco Williams – have been asked by the FA to explain comments they made about the refereeing at Goodison Park, while the Premier League is also examining the club’s social media post which appeared to question the integrity of VAR Stuart Attwell.
The statements from the authorities came within hours of Forest demanding the release of VAR audio related to the rejection of three penalty appeals during their 2-0 defeat.
Forest first issued a club statement on X on Sunday, minutes after the final whistle, in which they said they had “warned” referees’ chief Howard Webb that Attwell “is a Luton fan” but that no change was made to the match appointment.
The club went further on Monday evening and called on Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to change its rules on officials’ allegiances to account for “contextual rivalries in the league table”, not just local rivalries.
The Premier League said it was “extremely disappointed” by the statement issued on Sunday and added: “It is never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials, and the nature of these comments means the Premier League will also be investigating the matter in relation to the league’s rules.”
Sources have since told PA that Clattenburg did contact Webb on Friday to share that he thought Nuno might be asked about Attwell by the media, but that Forest did not raise Attwell’s appointment as a concern or make a request to change the appointment.
Chelsea to take strongest possible action after Nicolas Jackson racially abused
Chelsea have threatened to bring criminal charges against anyone found to have racially abused Nicolas Jackson in the aftermath of Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City.
The 22-year-old striker missed a number of chances at Wembley as his side bowed out of the cup with a 1-0 defeat and was subsequently the target of abuse on social media.
The racist comments were left on an Instagram post he had made following last week’s victory over Everton, in which he scored his 10th goal of the season.
In a statement, the club said: “Chelsea Football Club is disgusted by the racial abuse directed towards Nicolas Jackson via social media, following Saturday evening’s game.
“There is no place in society for any form of discrimination and we operate a zero-tolerance approach to any incident of this nature.
“The club will support any criminal prosecutions and take the strongest possible action, including bans, against any individual who is found to be a season ticket holder or member.”
Defending the Senegal international’s record during his debut season – since signing for Chelsea from Villarreal – manager Mauricio Pochettino said: “Jackson is doing fantastic and he will always have my support.
“He’s doing an amazing job for the team: running, scoring, assists.
“It’s not easy in the first season. Nicolas fights for the club and he will be better next season, no doubts.”
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