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A few weeks after his triumph at CAN 2021 with Senegal, Edouard Mendy is on the cover of the new issue of Onze Mondial, available from this Thursday on newsstands and on our online store. The goalkeeper of the Teranga and Chelsea Lions grants us an exclusive interview by evoking strong subjects, from the CAN to OM via Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, racism or the controversy over the errors on his name. Selected pieces.
On the CAN
“Yes, I said that winning the CAN was stronger than winning the Champions League (smile). Some people disagree with me. But already, this sentence is a feeling, so no one can interpret my feeling for me. Two, I won the CAN and the European Cup, so I can speak, I can say that there is a difference. When I say that the CAN gave me 10 times more chills, that’s my feeling. That’s really what happened. Afterwards, when we won the Champions League, we were in the Covid period. We didn’t do a parade, we didn’t make communion with the supporters, so that also matters. And when you see what happened in Dakar after the CAN, I can say that it’s 10 times stronger! »
On his time at OM
Edward MendyCredit Photo – Icon Sport
“Actually, I had come for the CFA, and as soon as I arrived, I played a friendly match with the CFA and it went well. So they said “why not”, and I went up with the pros. It went really well. As soon as training was over, the players came to talk to me and said, “Where are you from? », « Congratulations, you are not bad ». And there, when you answer them that you don’t have a club, some don’t believe it, others are shocked, others say: “But how is that possible? “. I remember that guys like Abdelaziz Barrada or Lassana Diarra, who passed through Le Havre and who knows many big names in my neighborhood, were very surprised. Just like Steve Mandanda. It was quite surreal for me, knowing that I was without a club. (…) I would have liked to be OM’s number one goalkeeper, but in front of me, there were Steve Mandanda, Yohann Pelé and Florian Escales who was the club’s hope for this position. Even if I had this thought in my craziest dream, the reality was different, it was clogged up, clogged up, there was no way to get there. Could I become OM’s goalkeeper in four or five years? (He bursts out laughing) We don’t know what the future holds, in any case, I’m concentrating on Chelsea and I still have great things to do here, God willing. »
On racism in football
“My miracle solution to fight racism? It would be to teach the youngest that difference is a strength, that we may not have the same skin color but that we all have a heart, a brain, two arms, two legs, that we are all the same, that we have qualities, faults. I wish we taught that to all the children in the world because no one is born racist. It’s just the fear of difference that does that, it’s ill-intentioned people who instill that in them. Nobody is born racist, so I would take the problem to the root, in any case, I would try. I think there is a big step to be taken in education to change mentalities. If tomorrow, I am a victim of racism on a field, I am not able to tell you what my reaction would be. Today, what I can tell you is that I completely understand the players who leave the field, because we are certainly football players, but we are humans above all, we have emotions . If the referee does not do his job, you have to succeed with strong actions. Getting out of the field is a strong action. »
Find the full interview with Edouard Mendy in the new issue of Onze Mondial, available from this Thursday on newsstands and on our online store.
to summarize
Edouard Mendy, the Chelsea goalkeeper winner of CAN 2021, confides exclusively in the new number Eleven World. Discover the secrets of the goalkeeper crowned African champion a few weeks ago.
