In an interview with ESPN, Gabriel said that after missing the penalty in the Champions League final, he stayed away from social media and received support from Marquinhos.
Gabriel, who missed a penalty in Arsenal's Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, still remembers that moment vividly. Marquinhos, who had experienced a similar moment, helped him out of his slump.
In June, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain competed for the Champions League title. After a 1-1 draw in regular time and extra time, the match went to penalties. Gabriel missed the final penalty, and Arsenal finished as runners-up.
The defender needs to quickly get back into form because he'll be heading to Brazil for the World Cup in a few days. Gabriel said it won't be easy.
Gabriel said: "Of course, I am very sad about what happened. It's normal, right? We missed a penalty in the Champions League final... But I adjusted myself as quickly as possible and spent time with my family, friends, and even colleagues."
He added: "After the Champions League final, I tried to stay away from social media because we all knew that this would stay in our minds and everyone was talking about it. So I also tried to detach myself for a while and spend more time with my family. After that, we went to report to the national team immediately, and I received a warm welcome from the coach and all the players... But of course, people will always think about these things, and at some point they will still think about that incident."
To weather this difficult period, Gabriel received support from Marquinhos. Marquinhos experienced a similar situation at the 2022 World Cup, missing a penalty that led to Brazil's elimination by Croatia.
During the Champions League final, Marquinhos was the first to step forward and embrace Gabriel. This gesture earned the Paris Saint-Germain captain the Fair Play Award.
Gabriel said, "He fully deserves this award; he's an idol to me. I learned a lot from him when we were on the national team together. About two days after the match, I messaged him to thank him for his concern. He knows how that feels because he's been through it too. When I got to the national team, I thanked him in person as well. He only said a few words to me then, but those words have stayed with me."
He concluded by saying, "He just fully supported me, saying that this is part of football, and that he had been through it himself. A player with such a long professional career and many championships said a lot of things to me that I will always remember, and I will never forget them."
