Nabil Fekir’s Failed Transfer and World Cup Glory Give Lyon Much to Celebrate

Lyon's Nabil Fekir. (AFP)
Lyon's Nabil Fekir. (AFP)
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Nabil Fekir’s Failed Transfer and World Cup Glory Give Lyon Much to Celebrate

Lyon's Nabil Fekir. (AFP)
Lyon's Nabil Fekir. (AFP)

The day after Nabil Fekir joined his France teammates and an estimated million supporters on the Champs-Élysées to show off the World Cup trophy, he was invited to attend another celebration. This time, there were only a few hundred people present at the Stade Francisque-Jomard de Vaulx en Velin – where his father, Mohamed, is president – to catch a glimpse of the town’s most famous son as he was made an honorary citizen. “Thank you all,” whispered a nervous-looking Fekir into the microphone as he addressed the crowd. “We did something beautiful.”

As summers go, 2018 will take some beating for the player who turned 25 two days after France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia. Despite seeing his proposed £53m move from Lyon to Liverpool collapse days before their opening World Cup match with concerns reported about his fitness following a knee injury, Fekir played a total of 68 minutes in six substitute appearances for Didier Deschamps’s side, including replacing Olivier Giroud in the final.

“Winning the World Cup has definitely made it easier for him to move on from Liverpool,” says Dahbia Hattabi, a Lyon-based journalist for website Foot Mercato. “Fekir is a person who is not very expressive but I did not feel he was upset or affected by the failed transfer. When he returned to Lyon he said and repeated several times that it was totally digested. Although he was late to return after the World Cup, we have seen him being fully involved and focused solely on OL.”

Having posed for photos wearing a Liverpool shirt and even conducted a welcome interview with the club’s in-house television channel, the sudden collapse of his move must have left a bitter taste. Some reports claimed it was a result of reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered against Portugal in September 2015 that caused Liverpool to get cold feet.

“I asked him exactly what had happened after the match against Strasbourg in August,” says Hattabi. “And he said: ‘I have heard many things, and they [Liverpool] know the real reason.’ Anyway, it’s old history.”

Back where it began in Villeurbanne – a suburb six kilometers north-east of Lyon’s center known as the birthplace of seven-times tennis grand slam winner Henri Cochet – they are delighted their hero is still around, at least for now. “This is the first place he comes,” Vaulx-en-Velin’s vice-president Farid Berkani told Le Parisien during July’s triumphant homecoming. “He’s a model for all our young people. A big pride for us.”

Fekir’s father, a former amateur player, moved to France from Algeria in 1992 and has spent the past two decades volunteering for the club in National 3 (French football’s fifth tier), which has also produced Kurt Zouma and Rachid Ghezzal among others. His son joined as an eight-year-old before returning at 13 after being released by Lyon for being too small – not the last time he would face rejection. Fekir sports a scar down the left side of his face – the legacy of a childhood accident on a visit to his relatives in Tipaza, an hour west of Algiers – and had the knee condition Osgood–Schlatter disease during adolescence.

Lyon, perhaps realizing their mistake and with Saint-Étienne sniffing around, re-signed Fekir in 2011 and handed him his first professional contract two years later. He established himself at the heart of an exciting young side that featured Alexandre Lacazette and Corentin Tolisso and was called up to a France junior squad for the first time in October 2014, coming on in the disastrous Under-21 European Championship play-off defeat by Sweden.

Fekir made his France debut as a substitute in a friendly against Brazil but having scored his first goal in the 4-3 defeat by Belgium in June 2015, he was injured against Portugal and ended up out for nine months.

There were fears he would struggle to recapture his form but last season’s 18 league goals from his favored No. 10 position after coach Bruno Génésio handed him the captain’s armband prompted Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich to compete with Liverpool for his signature. After late interest in the transfer window from Real Madrid and Chelsea, Lyon are expected to offer a new contract to the player they value at more than €60m. Not that Fekir will concern himself with that.

“Look, I’ve told you mate: I do not give a fuck,” he said in an interview with French magazine Onze at the start of February when discussing how much he is worth. “Honestly, whether it’s $20m or $10m … Pfff. I don’t make a fuss.”

The Guardian Sport



England Coach Southgate Targeted After a 0-0 Draw with Slovenia at Euro 2024 

England's head coach Gareth Southgate gestures to fans after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between England and Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium in Cologne on June 25, 2024. (AFP)
England's head coach Gareth Southgate gestures to fans after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between England and Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium in Cologne on June 25, 2024. (AFP)
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England Coach Southgate Targeted After a 0-0 Draw with Slovenia at Euro 2024 

England's head coach Gareth Southgate gestures to fans after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between England and Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium in Cologne on June 25, 2024. (AFP)
England's head coach Gareth Southgate gestures to fans after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between England and Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium in Cologne on June 25, 2024. (AFP)

Top of the group, unbeaten and on the favorable side of the draw for the knockout phase of Euro 2024. It’s a case of job done for England at this stage of the tournament.

Try telling that to the fans who jeered loudly and threw plastic cups as the final whistle blew on a 0-0 draw with Slovenia at Cologne Stadium on Tuesday.

Criticism of England's performances in Germany has been fierce.

“I’ve not seen any team qualify and receive similar,” manager Gareth Southgate said.

Southgate believes he and his England team could be paying the price for its success under his leadership. Safe passage through to the round of 16 maintains his personal record of advancing from the group stage of every major tournament he's taken charge of, dating back to the World Cup in 2018.

“I think probably expectation (is different). We’ve made England over the last six or seven years fun again. I think it has been enjoyable for the players,” Southgate said. “We’ve got to be very, very careful that it stays that way.”

England hasn't been fun to watch at these Euros with a 1-0 win against Serbia its only victory in Group C. That was followed by a 1-1 draw with Denmark and the scoreless draw with Slovenia.

Three games, two goals and a whole lot of underwhelmed fans.

The performance against Denmark was apparently so uninspired that former captain and now BBC presenter Gary Lineker used an expletive to describe it. And despite claiming he was “oblivious” to Lineker's stinging critique, it contributed to the “unusual environment” Southgate said he was working in at this tournament.

The atmosphere was hardly helped by plastic cups being thrown on the field as Southgate and his players went to applaud England supporters after the match.

“I’m not going to back down from going over and thanking the fans who were brilliant during the game," he said. “They might feel differently towards me. But for me, we only will succeed if we are together.”

Southgate led England to the semifinals of the World Cup in 2018 and the final of the last Euros. But his team will likely need a sharp upturn in form if it is to live up to its pre-tournament billing as one of the favorites for the European title.

Still, England has at least ended up on the opposite side of the draw to Spain, France, Germany and Portugal and will play one of the best third-place teams in the next round after advancing as group winner.

“That was the aim before the start of the tournament. Come top of the group and control our destiny,” captain Harry Kane said.

The result also meant Slovenia reached the round of 16 for the first time and Croatia was eliminated.

“We are such a small country, with such a big heart and mental strength. That’s why I’m very proud of my team,” coach Matjaz Kek said. “This is only the beginning for a new and beautiful era for Slovenian football.”

While it was a proud night for Slovenians, it was another performance that highlighted England’s attacking issues, with substitute Cole Palmer coming closest to scoring a winner in stoppage time.

“You can’t go into every game with such pressure and score four goals. Football doesn’t work like that,” Southgate said. “It is important to win the group to control your own destiny.”

A masked Kylian Mbappé scored his first goal of the Euros, but France drew 1-1 with Poland to finish runner-up in Group D behind Austria, which beat the Netherlands 3-2.

Mbappé wore a protective mask after breaking his nose in France’s opening game against Austria and scored from the penalty spot. But Robert Lewandowski’s twice-taken spot kick gave already eliminated Poland its first point of the tournament.