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Featured Image Credit: FIFA
Topics: Federico Valverde, Real Madrid
Josh Lawless
Federico Valverde won a huge bet with his manager Carlo Ancelotti after bagging a brace in Real Madrid's Club World Cup win.
Los Blancos beat Saudi Arabia outfit Al Hilal 5-3 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco to add to their Champions League and La Liga triumphs in 2022.
Captain Karim Benzema was on target and Vinicius Jr bagged a brace. But so too did Uruguayan midfielder Valverde and after his first strike, which put Real 2-0 up in the 18th minute, he went over to Ancelotti to share a wonderful hug.
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The story behind it is that Valverde, despite bringing a lot to the table, had previously never managed more than three goals in a single season for Real.
In September, Ancelotti raised the stakes in order to improve his performance in front of goal and told him he would retire from coaching if he didn't hit double figures in all competitions.
“I made a bet, but I think he’ll score more than 10 this season," Ancelotti said.
“If he scores four more then I get to keep my coaching license! He keeps surprising us. He does well on the wing or in midfield.”
In response, the former Penarol man commented: "I'm focused on doing it. It's a nice pressure. I don't want to be to blame for the coach retiring."
Valverde stepped up to the mark and after finding the net nine times, he reached the golden tally in the first half on Saturday.
The embrace was a promise made by the midfielder prior to the game, with Valverde saying, "When I score, I'm going to hug him."
Before his wholesome moment with Ancelotti, Valverde celebrated by sucking his thumb to announce his partner's pregnancy.
His other half Mina Bonino took to Twitter to reveal that after a scare, their baby is fine.
"Recently, news came out that I had lost a pregnancy. I was not able to deny it, because it was what we believed would happen.
It was incompatible with life. We prepare for a month for the worst. As the pregnancy was very advanced we had to confirm it with the test.
"And after having cried for a whole month, having mourned, while I had my second son in my belly, yesterday the unexpected news came to us: the baby is fine. Everything is normal. We haven't processed it yet, it was a very difficult month and this is starting over. THANK YOU."