His primary desire is to remain discreet, refusing all interview requests. For Sylvain Wiltord, the world of football now seems very far away. The former French international with 92 caps and European champion (2000), trained at Stade Rennais, passed through Bordeaux, Nantes, Arsenal and even OL, has completely disconnected his connection with football.
But a former top athlete does not completely rebuild his life and, now 50 years old, sport still plays an important place in his life. One in particular: padel. It was at an event organized on Twitch on September 28 by the streamer Domingo, “the Padel Invitational” on the sidelines of the Paris Major Premier Padel, on the Philippe-Chatrier court at the Roland-Garros stadium, that we found the former striker.
Padel coaching diploma in hand
Cap screwed on his head, discreet and not wishing to respond to any of our requests, he only came for one thing: to win. “Sylvain can confirm it, as a former footballer, we are competitors, so obviously we only aim for one thing”book Adil Rami, the 2018 world champion having faced Sylvain Wiltord in the final of this tournament. “He’s the biggest one among us tonight!” »
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His duo for this event was Saïd Dorbani, owner of the YouTube channel “Pieds Carrés”, specializing in football (887,000 subscribers). Originally from Lyon, the YouTuber met an idol: “It’s crazy to think that in 2005, I was at Gerland with his number 22 jersey, and today I’m playing padel with him! » With light pressure despite everything: “I don’t want to be the guy who makes us lose, especially since I heard he’s a bit of a bad player…”
To remedy this, Sylvain Wiltord demonstrated pedagogy and communication. ” I have “, “Yours” were the key words to take pressure off your partner. A pedagogy that he masters, since in addition to being a relentless player, he also has his padel coaching diplomas. “The funny thing is that I passed them at the same time as himexplains Manuel Vives, pro player of the discipline and 146e French. We feel that he has the desire to share. »
A character trait that the main interested party had confirmed Padel Magazine two years ago: “It’s true that everyone was waiting for me on a football field as a coach… But my passion for tennis took over. I loved working with teaching teams in tennis, then unfortunately I got injured and I took over with padel. »
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“Relentless”this is also the word that was used by Robert Pirès to describe Wiltord as a player. However, the 98 world champion himself has known padel for almost twenty years, with a discovery in 2006 when signing in Spain, in Villarreal.
At the Domingo event, the line was enlarged, presenting it as “playing eight times a day”. Although he doesn’t practice as much, it’s not uncommon to come across him at P250 or P100 tournaments in France.
In the meantime his objective has been accomplished, he has assumed his role as big favorite, Domingo announcing to us: “A great Sylvain” in an interview, before the start of the tournament. It was he who came to win with Saïd Dorbani, against the streamer Tiki and Adil Rami. An “Olympic” of padel, between an emblematic former OL player and a purebred Marseillais…
Great charier during the final against Adil Rami and also playing with the public who were not yet won over to his cause during this final, he was able to leave with the Padel Invitational trophy. “We won together”he wanted to emphasize on the performance of his teammate, Saïd Durbani. “Win on the central (the short Philippe-Chatrier), it’s something. » A final word before perhaps defending his title the following year.
