Champions League – Group E
Senegal had never experienced such a level among its goalkeepers. And the whole country will vibrate this Wednesday during a Chelsea-Rennes where Edouard Mendy, holder of the Teranga Lions, and Alfred Gomis, number 2, will play a sacred duel from a distance.
Read:
–Edouard Mendy: “When you are unemployed, you tell yourself that you are not going to get out of there”
While the second, from a family where all his brothers are goalkeepers, grew up in Italy before struggling to truly break through. Torino, Crotone, Avellino, Cesena, Salernitana, and then the SPAL where Dijon will spot him. “Edouard, he’s the coach (Editor’s note: Aliou Cissé, the Senegal coach) who discovered it when he went on tour in Europe. He told me about it and, right away, I told him it might do the trick in the national team, Sylva smiles. Alfred, we spotted him a little later. His brother (List) was already with us in selection. He had told us about Alfred and had also been brought to our attention. They have two different courses, and we quickly thought that we had to go with them for the selection. They struggled, but they are rewarded. “
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#FootArt : We had to wait 13 years to see a Senegalese goalkeeper in the final phase of the Champions League. Tony Silva’s last match dates from Lille’s 1-0 defeat against Manchester United on March 07, 2007. Finally, Édouard Mendy and Alfred Gomis in it. pic.twitter.com/fGk45wJHbk
– Cherif Sadio (@CherifSadio) September 29, 2020
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Edouard Mendy, best goalkeeper in Africa?
Today, in the minds of the Lions staff, it’s good Edouard Mendy who is number 1. A lot ahead? Tony Sylva: “Considering the matches he played with Rennes, I think he has more maturity in everything he does. He is not the best goalkeeper in Africa but he is one of the best with André Onana (Ajax Amsterdam / Cameroun) ou Yassine Bounou (Sevilla FC / Morocco). He still has to prove his level at an African Cup of Nations. ” A CAN that Edouard Mendy had started in 2019 in Egypt. But it was quickly cut short: during the warm-up before the third group match against Kenya, the former Le Havre broke a finger and forfeited the rest of a competition which was his very first on the continent. Alfred Gomis therefore took over. Without worry. “They are very tall, with the same build, continues Tony Sylva. During CAN (Senegal lost in the final against Algeria, 0-1), when Edou got injured, everyone thought it was he who was playing because the level was the same! ”
When Mendy proposes Gomis to Rennes to replace him
Tony Sylva concedes it without problem: this is the first time that Senegal has two goalkeepers of this level at the same time. But not enough, he promises, to see some friction appear for the place of holder. “They roam a lot among themselves in selection! They feel good in the group and the competition is healthy. When a goalkeeper proposes his teammate to his club, that means that they get along. “ Because indeed, during the last transfer window, and the game of musical chairs between Dijon, Rennes and Chelsea among the goalkeepers, Edouard Mendy, who was eager to join England to fulfill his shattered dream a few years earlier, suggested the name of his teammate in selection to the Stade Rennais board. “Every time he had proposals, Edouard spoke to me about them, we discussed them, contextualise Tony Sylva. When he was in Reims and Rennes wanted him, he was a little disturbed. We were in full CAN, and the club is contacting you to sign. He was really putting pressure on her! It was hellish, everyone called it. I told him to do a good CAN first and that he wouldn’t be unemployed if he didn’t sign now. “
“I told him: ‘Suggest their Alfred to replace you!’ In Rennes, I think they took that into consideration. ”
And, a year later, this summer is rebel: “Rennes did not want to let go, Sylva points out. Edouard asked me for some advice. Players often want to clash when they don’t have what they want. I told him to stay calm, to take them by the feelings and not to go to war against the club. “ The Mendy-Sylva duo, aware that the Chelsea opportunity does not present itself every year, therefore seek to persuade Nicolas Holveck’s club: “I said to him:” Suggest their Alfred to replace you! “, continue Sylva. In Rennes, I think they took that into consideration. ”
“Edouard also takes more risks from Alfred in the aerial game”
A few days later, Edouard Mendy becomes a Blues player for more than 25 million euros whileAlfred Gomis leaves Côte-d’Or and Dijon for Roazhon Park in exchange for around € 15M. “In Dijon, he had a good season despite the fact that the club played maintenance, Tony Sylva analyzes Gomis. Fortunately Alfred was there! Today is continuity for him. He will grow up. I have no doubts: he will have a good season at Rennes. He has character, he doesn’t speak much, but he knows very well what he wants and where he wants to go. “
The former last rampart of Monaco, Gazélec Ajaccio, Trabzonspor, Epinal and therefore Lille also sees an axis of progression in terms of language for the guardian of the flocks of Julien Stéphan: “This is his second season here and his French is not that great, Sylva remarks. He has always lived in Italy. He has to learn it quickly. “ Difficult, always, to compare two of his proteges in the Lions, but Tony Sylva sees an Edouard Mendy “A little above” of his partner’s game kicking. “But there is not too much difference, he asserts. Edouard also takes more risks than Alfred in the aerial game. But, if not, when you see their template (both are over 1.96m tall), you can think that it prevents them from going fast on the ground or from having good reflexes … But they both have no problem with that! ” Illustration at Stamford-Bridge on Wednesday night?
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