On this very hot Thursday in August, families flock to the entrance to the Nymphéa aquatic center in Moissy-Cramayel. The children, stampeding at the idea of wading in the swimming pools of the place, do not know that it is at the André-Trémet stadium, whose entrance is located a few meters away, that Kingsley Coman signed his first license of footballer. It was in 2002, the little "Kiki", who became "King", was then just 6 years old. But unlike Kylian Mbappé, star still embodied on the side of Bondy, in Seine-Saint-Denis, nothing in this city of Seine-et-Marne surrounded by fields, remembers the passage of the Bayern Munich striker, 24 years old , who will face PSG on Sunday evening in the Champions League final.
In the club's new offices, a shirt with the number 11 of Juventus Turin, his former club, is framed on a wall. There are also those of Abdelaziz Barrada, a former OM, or Rennes' Adrien Hunou, who also played at Moissy. Only trace of the lightning passage of the international tricolor. "There are not many memories at the club simply because he did not stay long, explains Eric Van Overtveld, president of the club for 4 years. I don't want to use his image and nothing obliges him to help us. If he had played longer, the situation would probably be different. Coman wore the Moissy jersey from 2002 to 2005 before being recruited by PSG, at only 9 years old.
"We knew he would be a top player"
A little further, towards the historic clubhouse and the old dilapidated locker rooms where Kingsley and his partners changed at the time, the U15s begin their training. "It's a success story," says Vinicio, 14, PSG jersey on his back. It is very loud, I often choose it when I play PS4. It is a pride to say that we play in the same club. “Mohamed, the coach, had the privilege of playing alongside the French international, future champion of Italy with Juve and Germany with Bayern.
"He was already making the difference on his own," recalls the educator. He wasn't talking about a career but we knew he would be a top player. His father was always there to support him, to accompany him, but it was not unhealthy like so often today, where the parents put the pressure for the kid to succeed. It was the pleasure that dominated. Kingsley's father, an electrician, organized his working days to make, during the player's young years, the trips back and forth between the family home and the PSG training center.
"He already had a haircut that was out of the ordinary"
In this bucolic setting from which you can see the steeple of the church, you can easily imagine the little Coman going to retrieve his ball in the ru, a small stream that separates the football fields. "I'm glad he succeeded," smiles Hamid, 78, club memory. He's a nice boy. He was a bit skinny and already had an unusual haircut with a braid but there were never any issues with him or his family. His father always gave him advice on the sidelines but as he got along well with the coach, that was not a problem. They are very discreet people. "
If he rarely goes to the stage of his debut, Kingsley regularly returns to Moissy's side. In fact, its roots are located further, two kilometers away, in the Lugny district. To get there, you have to take a long straight line, pass some beautiful houses and arrive in a more popular district where small terraced houses with small gardens coexist with bars of 2 to 4 floors.
It is there, on the 2nd floor of a building, that Katia, the mother medical secretary, Christian, the father, and their two children - Kingsley and Steeve, 8 years her senior - lived before the move to Savigny-le- Temple, still in Seine-et-Marn, about ten years ago. Where his childhood friends still live. Where "he plays Santa Claus every summer by distributing Bayern jerseys," smiles Nicolas Dourou, his first coach and a close friend of the family. “Last Wednesday, everyone was dressed in Bayern colors and it will be the same on Sunday. »In September 2017, he also offered 300 backpacks from his sponsors for future 6th grade students at the Maillettes college, which he also attended for one year.
130 juggles in a row at 9 years old
An urban legend claims that he even distributed tickets to young people in the neighborhood… “It didn't really happen like that,” Brahim, 22, smiles. But there is solidarity in the neighborhood. He gives us strength, he helps people who have plans and we also give him strength. For me, he's not a star, he's my friend. We would go to his house to play Dragon Ball Z on the PlayStation or play soccer on the field behind the building. We were supposed to be home around 6 or 7 p.m. but he continued to play with his father. We were his first plots… ”At 9 years old, this absolute fan of Ronaldinho - which could explain certain hair choices - already has more than 130 juggles. In 10 tournaments, he has 48 goals and 21 assists while playing… in the middle.
"He was good at everything, even for studies since he skipped the CM2", indicates Dominique, 20 years old. Sitting on a chair under the shade of the trees, Marie remembers "little Kingsley". “I told him to be careful when he crossed the road to go to elementary school because he always had a ball in his hands or feet. Maybe he was sleeping with… ”
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Nicolas Dourou notes the kindness, discretion but above all the determination of his former protégé. “I remember a tournament where, after a goal against us, he fetch the ball in tears in the cages, asks that we make the throw-off and goes to score the goal. He never liked to lose. He's a real competitor. We had a great generation, so we played tournaments against older teams. Another time, during a tournament in Montpellier, we played against the children of Laurent Blanc, he was impressed… It's funny to know that they met later at PSG and that he didn't. play! "
His first name is a tribute to an African immigrant
Kingsley Coman has an unusual first name. And so is the explanation. It was while reading an article in the Parisien - Today in France on the tragic fate of illegal Africans that Christian Coman found the first name of his youngest son. “That day, I was reading an article in the Parisian which told the story of illegal Africans who had taken a boat to try to reach Europe, explained in our columns the father of the French player before Euro 2016. The sailors had wanted to throw them overboard. One of them was called Kingsley and his fate moved me. I told my wife about this story, and the first name, and she liked it. Of the eight young Ghanaians thrown overboard by the Ukrainian freighter's crew, only Kingsley Ofosu survived.
