Six and a half years after leaving the SM Caen, Raphaël Guerreiro will face PSG in the colors of Borussia Dortmund this Tuesday in the first leg of the knockout stages of the Champions League.
“It’s an incredible trajectory for this” little boy “whom we will see again in 2008 upon his arrival in Caen, underlines Christophe Lecuyer, who remained close to the player.
He was the size that could be a handicap for him but in fact he made it a strength and I think he made it the meaning of his life. He transformed his potential weaknesses through work and he was able to become a very high level player today and become holder of Borussia Dortmund. ”
History had however painfully started for Raphaël Guerreiro and Stade Malherbe. Native of Blanc-Mesnil in Seine-Saint Denis, he was spotted in 2008 at 14 years old by the Norman club
“I was going to see him at a Clairefontaine match against SM Caen and that day he broke his leg on a tackle which was obviously involuntary. That penalized him for a year. That is why ‘he had a difficult arrival, explains Philippe Tranchant, at the time in charge of the Caennais training center, but it was only related to that because we had detected above-average qualities in terms of technique and game intelligence. “
This game intelligence which compensates for his seventy meter will quickly make him jump the age classes. In 2012, Patrice Garande quickly designated him as indisputable holder of the position of left side with the pros in Ligue 2.
At the end of three halves, I knew that he would start the team. Patrice garande
“At that time, everyone was playing a half time in the first three games, explains the former Caen coach. Raphaël Guerreiro imposed himself immediately. After three halves, I knew he would be the team holder for very simple reasons. He was a boy who was already fairly confident, very mature in his game. He did it all season. “
Failing to go back to Ligue 1, SM Caen cannot afford to refuse a transfer from Raphael Guerreiro at the end of the season. It was in Lorient then in Dortmund that the left side continued to grow, far from its training club.
The high level depends in particular on the mind. It turns out he had a lot more than I suspected. Philippe Tranchant
“I knew he had the skills to do high level, says Philippe Tranchant like all those who worked with him and coached him in Caen. Afterwards, the players’ glass ceiling and their trajectories depend on many things. The high level depends in particular on the mind. It turns out he had a lot more than I suspected.
He has a career path that corresponds to him. He started from Caen, from a team that was playing, for Lorient who was a playing team. He went to Dortmund, a playing team as well. And he went to the Portugal selection with very high level players. This trajectory was difficult to predict but with hindsight we tell ourselves that he had the qualities for and that he had even more mentally the capacities than I thought. “
–
