Joel Embiid is having a busy day! No, not that he had a torrid day in the lab. The Sixers center spent his Saturday enjoying the thrills and spills of the English Premier League. After showing dissent at the recently concluded Singapore GP, Embiid turned his attention to one of the biggest games in soccer—Manchester City vs Arsenal.

The rivalry between the English clubs peaked in the ninth minute of the game as the Blues struck their first goal. However, Arsenal returned the favor within a couple of minutes, and by the end of half-time, they were leading by 2-1. Despite being down by one man, the Gunners could hold on to the score almost till the end of stoppage time. Before the referee could blow his final whistle, a fantastic finish by John Stones turned the table and the game ended in a draw. Being an Arsenal supporter, Embiid was highly disappointed. So he took to X to express his frustration. “WOW!! That sucks for the GUNNERS,” he wrote.

Prior to this post, Embiid reacted to the Singapore GP’s lack of safety car appearance, where Lando Norris of McLaren topped the podium. Seems like someone spent the entire day watching back-to-back sporting events. Apart from his knack for motorsport, the 30-year-old’s love for European football comes as no surprise. The big man once claimed football to be his first love, even over basketball.

“To be honest, I love football more than basketball,” Embiid said in an interview with Men in Blazers. “I’d rather be a football player than a basketball player. That’s how much I love it,” the 2023 NBA MVP added. “There’s nothing close to a bigger sport in the world, nothing close to it. I like the concept of a team. In basketball, if you have 2 good players you can win, but in football (soccer), the team has to be together.” Now one might wonder if Embiid loved the sport so much, then why didn’t he pursue it? The 7x All-Star disclosed the reason for that as well in the same podcast.

Joel Embiid detailed his bitter break-up with soccer

Joel Embiid has never shied away from expressing his love for the beautiful game. Even while growing up, he mostly played soccer and volleyball. Despite having the opportunity to become a superstar in the field of soccer like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Embiid chose basketball.

Embiid stated the reason behind his decision. “I always wanted to be a striker, but I was just way too big. I found myself in the middle because I just felt like, I like to control, make the passes and just control the whole game.” However, his size never really acted as an advantage but just the opposite.

The 7-footer added, “Obviously being bigger than everybody else, I was more physical and people were actually scared of me because I would just make some move and act like I’m going to kick you in the foot, and everybody would be scared.” Drawing the example of Manchester City legend Embiid further stated, “I was kind of the bully, but like a Yaya Toure, physical presence, big, tall. But yeah, I enjoyed it. I wish I had more talent to be professional, but I guess I didn’t.”

Even though he couldn’t grab the spikes and sport an Arsenal jersey on the field, Embiid loves to support the team, like millions of Gunners around the globe who’d be cursing their luck for today’s late heartbreak.