The place cannot be found. Without a location sent on WhatsApp, nothing indicates the – dented – path to this landmark. “diamonds” as says Adrien Gaignon, 52 years old, the manager of the place. His gems? Sixty-three teenagers, aged 12 to 18, who seem to have no time to smile. Serious, too serious. They are there to shed sweat, nothing but sweat. And kick a ball, morning and evening, six days a week. One goal obsesses them: to become professional. Like their Ivorian big brothers who will face Mali in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations (CAN), Saturday February 3, in Bouaké.
These children believe in God, in their parents and in the Jean-Marc Guillou Academy (JMG). A stone’s throw from the mosque of Djékanou, a small town located about fifty kilometers south of Yamoussoukro, administrative capital of Ivory Coast, this football training center, opened by the former French international in 2016, is a land of opportunity for these apprentices. “It’s a privilegeassures Hamza Coulibaly, 14 years old, an academician for almost three years. We are given every chance here to become a great player. »
Inside the yellow and blue walls, there is nothing flashy: simple buildings follow one another in which there are rudimentary but air-conditioned dormitories, classrooms and a refectory. And below, towards the horizon, just after the table football, stretches the pitch battered by the heat. At the end of the afternoon, on the rough lawn, the children juggle again and again, as if their lives depended on it, under the watchful eye of the four coaches.
“They repeat their range like pianistsexplains Adrien Gaignon, the manager of the academy and nephew of Jean-Marc Guillou. In this sport, as in music, there should be no wrong notes. » At JMG, football is above all a philosophy: passing, possession and speed without ever going into a duel. It’s street art “which no longer exists in France”regrets Mr. Gaignon. “We claim the football of poetshe smiles. For us, the main thing is that the boys have fun. »
Mastering the leather of the ball barefoot
Everything has been codified since the opening of the first structure in 1994, then located in Abidjan (since closed). First, all the children are barefoot to teach them how to master leather. The new recruits (12 years old) – selected on a weight criterion to avoid problems linked to age trafficking – do a series of exercises, within a given time, to be carried out without ever dropping the ball on the ground.
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