Last night, Real Madrid made it three wins in three straight finals when they defeated Atletico Madrid 4-1 on penalties to lift the Supercopa de Espana (known as the Spanish Super Cup to the English World).

But the star of the night, however ignoble his actions might be interpreted to be by some members of the footballing world, was Fede Valverde. His last-minute tackle which stopped the highly in-form Morata dead in clear tracks made sure Real Madrid survived extra time even though with a deficit of one man.

While his violent conduct earned him a red card, it probably also won his team the match and, by the looks of it, won him the Man of the Match award.

While I’m not sure I support awarding the man of the match to a player who got sent off the game for such violent conduct, I, however, applaud that same conduct to the extent to which it helped win the game for Madrid.

A certain Luis Suarez at the 2010 World Cup quickly comes to mind. His own version of the Hand of God saved Uruguay from certain elimination as the Ghanaian, Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting spot-kick. Last night, another Ghanaian, Thomas Partey missed his own spot-kick and right now, it seems to be a Ghanaian affair.

It’s a valiant show of sacrifice, something many of us do for our friends, families and businesses. For a young player to have such presence of mind to execute such brutality at a time it was needed most, and at a section of the pitch where it wouldn’t cause his team severe damage, he deserves a huge bonus. He took one for the team and in doing so gave it all.

You can read more of Ejike's Sports commentary on http://nigeriatodaynews.com/