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SAMIR FROM ARSENAL |
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Samir is not the first Gunners
midfielder of recent years to hail from
Marseille - the dense, heaving hotbed of
sporting passion that is in many ways at
odds with the rest of the country in
which it resides. Unlike Mathieu Flamini,
though, his life in football began in
the most rudimentary of surroundings -
on the very streets of his home suburb,
La Govrotte Peyret. |
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"I started playing football when I was
five years old, climbing all the
different steps to become a footballer,"
he remembers. "Between the ages of five
and nine I used to play in my
neighbourhood, basically on the tarmac,
on the road - and that's where I started
to learn my football skills. It might
sound tough but it wasn't that hard for
me really because it's the environment I
was used to, and it was actually very
brotherly if you like - a kind of
fraternity. It's one of these things in
life that serves to make you stronger." |
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At nine years of age he was spotted
playing locally and whisked to the
infinitely more opulent and professional
surroundings of Olympique Marseille.
Quite a leap - but his grounding at the
school of hard knocks had prepared him
well. |
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"My experiences before definitely helped
me to settle down in the club - having
come from this brotherhood community,
which had a real sense of friendship and
laughter," he states. |
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There is little surprise to hear that a
footballer of Samir's style cites Diego
Maradona as an early influence - and nor
does one bat an eyelid at his equal
admiration of Zinedine Zidane. The role
of 'Zizou' is one to dwell on, though.
Himself brought up just minutes from
Samir's home, the fabulously-gifted
playmaker set the mould for French
youngsters of Algerian ancestry, Samir
included, but the media's insistence on
creating 'new Zidanes' manufactures the
possibility of turning his figure into
one that is more spectral than deific. |
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Samir laughs a little - he's heard it
all before, of course. "The comparison
with Zidane is one that is drawn with a
lot of the youngsters who come from
north African backgrounds - so yes, it's
quite often that these young kids are
likened to him in some sort of way. And
it's good at the same time because he's
definitely a fine role model to have. |
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"It's flattering to be compared to him
initially but it can be very detrimental
to a young player's career, especially
when you're 17 or that kind of age - the
reason being that people are expecting a
lot from you and it can prove
restrictive, so there is an annoyance in
that respect." |
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There is the compelling argument -
indeed, a widespread belief among many
people in France - that the influences
of Zidane and his all-conquering,
multi-ethnic team-mates of 1998 and 2000
have transcend sport and served to usher
in a sense of unity among social and
cultural groups that once lay divided.
The Ghana of Marcel Desailly, the
Algeria of Zidane, the Kalmykia of
Djorkaeff, the Dieppe of Manu Petit -
all began to mean something profound to
one another. Le monde Francais was very
real, very relevant. |
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