What is your assessment of your first month in Marseille?
Chancel Mbemba: “The balance sheet will be for the journalists. For now, I’m working. But it’s going very well with my team-mates and with the supporters. Everyone welcomed me and I’m happy to to be here. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve been lucky to have things go smoothly, without having to push.”
Why did you choose OM?
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CM: “It was the right choice after Porto. It’s the N.1 club in France, I felt it from the first match at the Vélodrome. And there’s the Champions League. I’m a man of challenges and here there is an ambition. By working, we will do great things here. And feeling the supporters is very motivating.”
You have already offered them a goal, against Nantes…
CM: “The Congolese scorer is Bakambu, I am a defender (laughs). But when there is an opportunity, you have to seize it. Afterwards, the joy with the supporters, I did not calculate anything, it comes like that was great.”
Chancel Mbemba (Marseille) scored against Nantes, Saturday August 20, 2022. / Ligue 1
Credit: Getty Images
The preparation was apparently terrible with Igor Tudor. Did you really suffer?
CM: “I took advantage of it. My last match was in May. Then I worked individually but it’s different. In life you have to suffer to get good things, you always have to work. C “It’s when it’s hard that it pays off. The coach is strict because he wants us to do things well and with concentration, to create automatisms.”
What can OM expect in the Champions League?
CM: “For us it’s a challenge. We want to please the supporters because for them it’s been a long time. In 2020, with the Covid, they weren’t there. We are a big club, which must be the most high as possible. We have to pass the pools, it’s not easy but it’s important to give OM a good image.”
What can Alexis Sanchez bring you?
CM: “He’s a great player, you just have to see his career. His presence motivates the team, he reassures. His movements are made to help his teammates. The defender opposite can always say to himself ‘Alexis Sanchez, he don’t pass’, but he will create the space that will allow another to score.”
Is Alexis Sanchez finished?
Your career has been marked by a controversy over your real age. Was it something that held you back?
CM: “I don’t calculate that. I’m straight. It’s little things, people who talk to discourage me, distract me. But my objective has always been clear and it hasn’t bothered me at all. people keep going, I’m doing my job.”
The Congolese selection is important to you. How did you react when the president of Naples said he no longer wanted African players because of the CAN?
CM: “We are in a democracy, everyone thinks what they want even if there are ways of saying things. But when he took out the money to take Africans, no one forced him. We are selected to defend the flag, we must respect that. It is a duty towards our native country.”
After ten years of career in Europe, how do you judge your career?
CM: “People only see what’s on TV but I suffered a lot to get here. Getting out of Africa, getting to Europe, it’s not easy. I started playing football outside, like that “Everyone said ‘you don’t force, it’s natural for you’. It was a gift. Clubs came and I realized that by doing this seriously, I might have a chance. Today, when I see my family, the responsibilities I have, in the Congo too, I’m proud of myself. In Europe you make a name for yourself. Then when you have something, you share it there. I don’t can’t satisfy everyone, but when I have something, I do.”
And how do you imagine the future?
CM: “I still have things to do. I still have to work to reach the very high level. I want to win titles and here it’s possible. We’re going to work for that.”
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