Alidu Seidu shares his experience of defending against Messi, Mbappe, Neymar

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Clermont Foot defender, Alidu Seidu, has shared his experience of defending against Paris Saint-German trio Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in a 6-1 home

Read full articleloss on April 9, 2022.

Seidu, who played as centre-back and lasted the whole minutes detailed how difficult it was when defending against the trio.

In the match, both Neymar and Mbappe scored a hat-trick, while Messi assisted three of the six goals.

According to Alidu Seidu, Mbappe has everything, and his pace makes him difficult to defend against. Hence, interrupting the Frenchman's runs with intelligent fouls was the plan.

"I did not spare him because he has pace. So anytime he tries to outpace me, I held his hand and make sure we all fall. He has pace. If you watch him from the stands, you might think the defender doesn't have speed, but it's not his fault. Mbappe has pace. He is strong, he has good technique, he has everything, and he is smart. I made up my mind that if he dribbles me, I'll foul him," he said in an interview with Pure FM.

On defending against Neymar, Seidu said due to the Brazilian's quick feet, he always had his eye on the ball instead of looking at the former Barcelona player.

"If you don't focus, he will disgrace you. So, I always give him space after he is done with what he wants to do with the ball then he passes. But when I get close to him, I made sure I get a contact. When he has the ball you might think you've dispossessed him but before you'll realise he has gone past you. And if you are not lucky, he will nutmeg you. And when you get nutmegged, it will go viral. So, I always had my focus on the ball, not on him."

When asked about his difficulty when defending against Messi, Seidu said the 7 seven-time Ballon D'or winner is exceptional.

"For Messi, he is exceptional. People say he always walks on the pitch, he doesn't walk for the sake of it. He is always finding space. If you watch him you'll notice whenever he receives the ball he has space. My coaches use to tell me that a good player is a player who always receives the ball as a free man. For some players, while receiving the ball you'll see players already on him. But for Messi, you won't get him."

"Unless he starts driving with the ball then you tackle him. Anytime you try to get on him before he receives the ball, he had already noticed you. He is an exceptional player. When he was in Barcelona, I didn't like him. But the truth is he is an exceptional player" he added.

He recalled an incident in the match where he slightly hit Messi's head with his knee after fouling the former Barcelona man.

"At some point, I hit his head with my knee after fouling him. I hit him with my knee and told him 'Sorry'. He did not say anything because he barely speak on the field," he recalled.

Alidu Seidu had an impressive debut season in the French Ligue 1, playing 21 matches for Clermont Foot.

His performance earned him a debut Black Stars call-up for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the Kirin Cup in Japan.

The 22-year-old made his Black Start bow in a 4-1 defeat to Japan.


EE/BOG