Ashley Cole struggles to pronounce team names in Europa League draw

Ashley Cole drew the attention of social media after mispronouncing several team names during the 2019/20 Europa League draw.

Cole, who won the competition in 2013 with Chelsea, helped draw the groups for this season’s competition, but struggled to pronounce certain team names.

Stade Rennais and Espanyol both tripped the recently retired left-back up, but he was reassured by the host, who said: “Don’t worry Ashley, it’s OK, we’ve understood.”

Cole then broke out into a smile when faced with reading Istanbul Basaksehir from the card. “That’s a challenge, I know,” said the host.

Former Celtic and Scotland forward Simon Donnelly enjoyed Cole’s efforts, tweeting: “Brilliant” with three laughing emojis.

BBC DJ Nick Bright meanwhile tweeted: “Espanyol isn’t even hard.”

Cole himself later tweeted: “Well that was fun.”

Cole announced his retirement on Sky Sports earlier in August – he won 13 major titles during his 20-year career, including the 2012 Champions League with Chelsea, three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups.

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