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NUFC: Tiote ‘I Only Want Winners’ Medals’

12 years ago
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Despite having the bottle to step up and slot home the first penalty in the final shootout, Cheick Tiote returned with only a runners-up medal as Zambia triumphed.

Great to hear his attitude and intentions with regard to being back on Tyneside and playing again at St.James’ Park, even more enlightening hearing what he did with his medal , as Cheick spoke to the official club website.

“All the people there, they love the national team and they love the country, so we are really disappointed because we didn’t win the competition.

I gave my medal to my friend because I was so disappointed. I didn’t want to keep that, so I gave it to my friend.

“We did well but we didn’t win it. Maybe next year we will win the competition.

Normally I never take penalties but I took the responsibility to take a penalty because it was difficult for other players to take the first penalty.

So I took the responsibility to take the first penalty and I scored, which gave confidence to my team-mates.

But although we did well in the competition, in the final we were unlucky in the penalty shoot out and lost the game.

That’s football – you cannot win every time, so I will look to the next game ahead and stay positive.

I think it’s a big moment for the team, because we lost the last game against Spurs. Five-nil, it was, and I was sad because we have a good team also.

So now we have to keep our heads and do well to win this game on Saturday.

It has been great to see my friends and to be back in Newcastle. Now I have to think about Newcastle, because the tournament with my national team is finished now.

I think it’s important when you come back from your national team to do more of what you do every time. I think it’s important for the fans, and the manager, to see that we have ambition for the club to do well and to play well for the team”.

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