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Former Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane has conveyed his joy regarding midfielder Federico Valverde following his hat-trick against Manchester City.

The Uruguayan international netted all three goals for Los Blancos, leading them to a 3-0 victory over the English team in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

Club icon Zidane was present at the Bernabeu as Valverde stole the spotlight in the crucial match. When questioned post-game, he expressed his happiness for the 27-year-old midfielder after his impressive goalscoring display.

“I am very pleased for Valverde,” he remarked (via @MadridXtra on X). Federico Valverde donned the Real Madrid captain’s armband and rose to the challenge in the absence of top scorer Kylian Mbappe, who is sidelined due to injury.

The midfielder delivered three precise finishes that would have made Mbappe, or any other forward, proud, securing the win for his team.

Valverde joined Los Blancos in 2016 and made his debut two years later after progressing through the youth ranks and spending time on loan. He became a regular in the first team under Zidane in 2019 during the Frenchman’s second tenure with the Spanish club.

Before facing Manchester City, Federico Valverde had only scored three Champions League goals in his previous 75 appearances in the tournament. His hat-trick astonishingly matched that total in just 45 minutes of play at the Bernabeu.

UCL: Zidane excited over Valverde’s hat-trick against Man City

Super Eagles head coach Éric Chelle has said he will give new players chance to impress at the Unity Cup, DAILY POST reports.

Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India and Jamaica will participate in the invitational tournament in England next month.

The Super Eagles will face the Warriors of Zimbabwe in the competition’s opening fixture at the Valley, home ground of Charlton Athletic on Tuesday, May 26.

Defenders Benjamin Fredrick, and Igoh Ogbuh were discovered during last year’s edition.

Chelle, who will be aiming to lead the Super Eagles to a successful title defence has promised to invite new faces for the tournament.

“The Unity Cup provides a platform to assess new players. I will comb Europe, and invite new players of Nigerian descent, alongside those who were previously called up but never got the chance to feature, Chelle told the Super Eagles media.

Chelle named 10 home-based players in his squad for the competition last year.

The Malian has also promised to repeat same strategy this time around.

“Top players from the Nigeria Premier Football League will also be considered as I will be watching a number of domestic games from now until the end of the season,” he added.

The Super Eagles will also keep a date with Poland and Portugal in two other friendlies in June.

Chelle revealed regular members of the team will be feature in the high profile friendlies

“For the big warm up game in June against Poland and Portugal ,I will feature my first team players. These are the games that can push up global ranking if we win them,” the former stated.

Super Eagles: Chelle outlines plan for Unity Cup, Poland, Portugal friendlies

There was a demand for the jersey of Portugal captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, following their 2-1 win over Nigeria in an international friendly on Wednesday night.

But it was defender Bruno Onyemaechi who was the lucky Super Eagles player to take it home.

Onyemaechi posted Ronaldo’s shirt on his social media hours after the game.

Ronaldo himself had posted a picture of him and the right-back on Instagram, with the caption: “The preparation is done. Eyes on the World Cup.”

The five-time Ballon d’Or was the centre of attention from Nigerian players and coaches, as they jostled to take pictures with him at full-time.

Ronaldo played for 64 minutes and missed a couple of chances to score against the Eagles.

Super Eagles player gets Ronaldo’s shirt after 2-1 defeat to Portugal revealed