The curriculum of a young footballer can be structured around two pivotal stages: firstly that of moving onto the big field around the age of 13, already difficult to digest for certain profiles, then that of confronting real adults, generally around 18 years old in the reserve team, and which leaves many dreamers on the side of the road. You yourself, perhaps, predicted wonders for a former French international in youth, easy in U17 Nationals, perhaps even outclassed, but ultimately caught up by reality and the demands of old-timer football. Survivors exist, like Jonathan Clauss, who was not retained by Strasbourg at the age of 18 and became a French international 11 years later, but they are rare.
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By inspecting the match sheets of the last Gambardella Cup finals, we realize that the twists of fate are much more numerous than the strokes of genius. Since 2016 and the coronation of AS Monaco by Kylian Mbappé against Lens (3-0), 110 players have started at the Stade de France (there was no edition in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID) . In this contingent, more than 30 are today without a club or have stopped playing football, and as many are now playing in National 2, National 3, or even sometimes in regional categories, driven by other motivations. For the most beautiful trajectories of recent years, we can however cite the names of Boubacar Kamara, Wesley Fofana, Bryan Mbeumo, Bafoudé Diakité, Amine Adli or even Manu Koné, but it must be said: they are becoming rarer.
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Saint-Étienne, the great void
On the side of the Greens, winners of the event in 2019 against Amine Adli’s TFC, we predicted at the time a golden future for Charles Abi, Marvin Tshibuabua or captain Kenny Rocha Dos Santos. The first was lost in Switzerland, the second plays in the Belgian second division, while the last, launched professionally at the age of 16, went into exile in Cyprus. Bilal Benkhedim, former French youth international and scorer in this final, is in the closet at Laussane Ouchy. As for Stefan Bajic, a promising goalkeeper at the time and launched professionally the year following this coronation, he is today a substitute for Bristol, in the Championship. This season, the former French international hopeful has only participated in one CUP match.
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Nevertheless, a great success can be highlighted in this Saint-Etienne squad, and it is to the credit of Wesley Fofana, who became the most expensive defender on the planet after his transfer from Leicester to Chelsea in 2022 (82.5 million euros). ‘euros plus 6 bonus). Toulouse, beaten by ASSE in the Gambardella final, on the other hand came across a good vintage with its 2000/2001 generation. Since 2016, no finalist can boast of having released so many big names: Bafoudé Diakité is a starter at LOSC and at the gates of the Blues, Amine Adli plays in Leverkusen and is a Moroccan international, Manu Koné should fly to a top club European soon, while Anthony Roualt, Nathan N’Goumou, Moussa Diarra or Killian Corredor, continue their progress on different scales.
Kamara represents OM, El Arouch at the bottom of the bucket
Going back to 2017, the vintage which gave us a duel between Boubacar Kamara’s OM and Nicolas Cozza’s Montpellier (Montpellier won on penalties), we realize that many finalists have become left behind. -for-account. 5 ex-Marseillais are today without a club, like Rocchia or Chabrolle, while others play in the fourth or fifth division. Besides Kamara, the successes are Lucas Perrin or Yusuf Sari, who became a Turkish international. Among the Héraultais, Cozza and Bertaud have been able to make their mark in Ligue 1, but the rest, like former hopeful Yanis Ammour, are stagnating in the lower divisions. Same story among the Tourangeaux, finalists defeated against the Troyes of Bryan Mbeumo and Yehvann Diouf in 2019. Apart from Grégoire Coudert, Marco Bizot’s understudy in Brest, and Sambou Sissoko, who passed through Reims and today in Ukraine, the other 9 holders of the time are today without a club or amateurs.
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OL, winner of the event in 2022, only gave a chance to young defender Mamadou Sarr, used 7 minutes in Ligue 1 this season, then loaned to Eagle Football’s satellite club, Molenbeek. Called to become the new darling of the Rhone public, valedictorian Mohamed El Arouch has gone through very painful ordeals in recent months. The young Lyonnais experienced a period of depression and is trying to get back on track with the support of Pierre Sage, among others. Goalkeeper Mathieu Patouillet could be loaned out again, before perhaps returning to OL one day. Among the Caennais of 2022, Tidiam Gomis and Norman Bassette still have everything to prove, but seem to have the background to succeed. On the other hand, we will give a little more time to the Monegasques and Clermontois, last year’s finalists and still in a learning period. But they are warned: it will take guts to defy the statistics and pursue the career they dream of. Identically for Enzo Sternal, Darryl Bakola and Yanis Sellami, absent for today’s final due to the Euro U17, but to whom we wish the same success, or even better, than their predecessor Boubacar Kamara.
Pub. THE 05/25/2024 2:16 p.m.
Update 05/25/2024 2:23 p.m.
