In the turmoil of Lisbon, he extinguished, on August 23, the continental dreams of PSG with an unstoppable header (1-0).
At 24, the Bavarian Kingsley Coman has already won everything in club.
Among the Blues, the best still seems to be ahead of him, with, as a watermark, a Euro 2021 towards which he is already turning eyes full of lust.
Well in his head and in his body, the Parisian by birth, very rare in the media this fall, answered all our questions for more than half an hour.
The international (26 caps, 5 goals) has peeled his news, plunged his gaze in the rearview mirror, even revealing, over the course of the exchange, some parts of a strong personality but a little unknown.
THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, THE YEAR 2020, THE PANDEMIC
Three months later, what do you have left of the Champions League final?
KINGSLEY COMAN.
Time has passed since that final.
A new season has started.
I don't think about it on a daily basis.
But it remains, for now, the highlight of my career.
I was injured, I worked hard to get back and so this is a day that I will never forget.
Like in a dream.
No one will take this final away from me or my club.
Was it special to face and score the only goal of the match against PSG, your training club?
Before and during the match, I was focused on Bayern and winning.
I didn't want to waste energy scattering around.
But I grew up in Paris.
PSG will always remain my favorite club where I spent 9 years.
After the meeting, when I put professionalism aside to let my emotions speak, I then felt a little sadness for Paris, but at least the club had climbed to the final by achieving great things.
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In the land of Kingsley Coman's first exploits in Moissy-Cramayel
What is your view on this year 2020 marked by an unprecedented health crisis?
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It is a particularly painful period when we have to deal with the necessary obstacles to our freedom, starting with wearing a mask and respecting barrier gestures.
We are even better aware of our privileged status.
More generally, the pandemic is changing the world ... also generating good things such as solidarity between neighbors and towards caregivers, new family ties, awareness of new issues, ecological benefits on the planet…
How do you welcome the announcement of a future vaccine?
With great hope, like everyone else.
It could finally allow us to turn this dark page and leave 2020 behind us without regret.
Do you admire the work of the nursing staff?
How not to be ?
We already knew their importance and their involvement but now we shout it out loud and that's good.
They are on the front lines.
These are the people we need most at the moment, as was already the case in the spring.
We then paid tribute to them with the Blues.
We are always fully behind them.
BLUES, KIMPEMBE, RABIOT
Is the postponement of the Euro for one year an advantage or a handicap for the Blues?
We will find out next summer.
We had to deal with this delay and put up with it.
All nations have been in the same boat.
The season is long, no one can know in what physical state we will arrive at the final tournament.
I am confident in our strength whether in 2020 or 2021. The group has enough talent to go to the end.
In a club, you have won everything.
Is the European Championship clearly your next goal?
Of course.
I didn't have the chance to win the World Cup.
In 2016, we had a great experience with the Euro in France, but it ended badly (
Editor's note: final lost against Portugal
).
I hope not to miss the last step this time.
A new success, after that of the World Cup, would mark our superiority even more in recent years.
Kingsley Coman, 26 caps with the Blues but absent during the coronation in 2018, hopes to compete in the 2022 World Cup ./LP/Olivier Arandel
Did you digest your absence from the 2018 World Cup?
It was never an injury or a disappointment.
The pain and sorrow, I felt them the day I injured my ankle in February 2018. I had everything in order in my football and in my life to participate in this competition.
Even though I got back on time, it was too late to claim to be there.
I hope to participate in the next World Cup.
Do you have the feeling of having crossed a threshold in selection?
I have matured in my game and in my life.
It can be felt on the ground.
I try to strive for more variety and efficiency.
The goals have become very important (
Editor's note: he scored this week against Sweden and then Saturday against Bremen
).
So I do violence to myself, I try to be more selfish.
However, I still have room for improvement.
But it is obvious: the Coman of 2020 is no longer that of November 2015 during my first selection.
How does it feel to meet up with the Blues with Kimpembe and Rabiot, and sometimes Ferland Mendy, your childhood friends?
It's big and it shows the qualities of this generation.
Looking back, on our journey, I feel a lot of pride.
First, there was our formative years, and now our shared history with the selection.
It is not trivial.
We are not many to become pros and even less to join the France team.
We are happy to recall our common memories.
Presnel is like a brother to me.
With Paris as in the selection, he has never seemed so strong.
How do you explain it?
He always had in him this soul of a leader.
Now he is able to repeat great performances.
This is the major difference.
To know his desire and his competitive mentality, I can assure you that it will continue.
Back in the Blues, Adrien Rabiot seems transformed.
It surprises you ?
Not really.
I was not unaware of its potential.
In a club like Juventus all the conditions are, in addition, met to promote its progress.
THE BAYERN, THE PSG, MBAPPÉ
Why do Bayern like French players so much?
It's true, there are 6 of us with Tanguy and Bouna (
Editor's note: Kouassi and Sarr
).
French football is a benchmark in Europe.
It is no coincidence that we were finalists for the Euro, then world champions.
Bayern are looking to attract talent and appreciate the French mentality.
Paris will play part of its qualification against Leipzig on Tuesday.
Are there real reasons to be worried?
In the first leg, Paris deplored many absent.
Without Neymar and Mbappé, it is not the same team.
Even if everything remains possible, it must, it will do it.
During Final 8, PSG had largely won against this same opponent (
Editor's note: 3-0
).
Arriving at Bayern in 2015, Kingsley Coman is now part of the Bavarian club's executives ./LP/Arnaud Journois
Would you have your place of holder in the current PSG?
I do not prefer to risk myself on this ground, nor to project myself into another team.
I'm at Bayern and very happy to be there.
Are you still amazed by Kylian Mbappé?
It's hard to surprise me, because I have played and I evolve with very great players.
Kylian brings together all the technical qualities and an incredible mind to become one of the best if not the best in the world in the years to come.
MAN, HIS PASSIONS, HIS COMMITMENTS
You have an XXL prize list but we don't know much about you.
Who is Kingsley Coman really?
Someone simple, humble and discreet.
I am very greedy.
I particularly like sweets and pastries.
At this level, France is the must.
Otherwise I pay close attention to my diet and check my weight every day.
I like fashion too.
I also have projects in this area, creating my own brand or investing in others that already exist.
It should be done soon.
It's necessary to get away from it all and not just think about football 24 hours a day. When you are well, it still works, but if certain things are not going well, and you have too much of your head in your job, you may be greatly affected.
What are the causes that are close to your heart?
There are a lot of them but I don't communicate on them normally.
For example, in the spring with Thomas and Anthony (
Editor's note: Lemar and Martial, both Antilleans also
), we made a donation to the Guadeloupe CHU, to help them fight against the coronavirus.
It seemed our duty to come to the aid of the most vulnerable and the most disadvantaged, to protect the elderly who are among the most vulnerable to the virus, without forgetting the young people who are not spared by the disease.
I am also involved with college students in my town of Moissy-Cramayel (Seine-et-Marne).
I want to not advertise it too much or expose it on social media.
True generosity of heart also means acting with discretion.
I don't expect anything in return.
Just trying to gather more followers by putting yourself forward, that's not me.
"When we can denounce certain unacceptable things such as racial violence, it is a matter of doing so without hesitation," says Coman./LP/Arnaud Journois
Is it the role of athletes to make their voices heard on social issues?
We can do it, but it doesn't have to be.
Everyone acts with their own sensitivity.
There are so many battles to be fought on earth.
By wanting to go too far, we sometimes manage to disperse and we would do better, then, to be silent.
It all depends on the causes.
Afterwards, we have a hearing, we are listened to and when we can spread a positive message, or denounce certain unacceptable things such as racial violence or attacks on democracy for example, it is a matter of doing so without hesitation.
The color of skin or religion, you must not touch it, even if there will always be fools.
On a personal level, have you been confronted with racism, in Italy in particular, where there is a lot of slippage in the stadiums?
I have already been the subject of insults intended mainly to distract me.
They were addressed to me, to my family, but were not racial.
Even if it's always regrettable, it contributes to bad habits.
It entered through one ear and immediately came out the other.
The place of the athlete is changing.
Are you aware that you are important and listened to more and more, especially among young people?
Social networks have changed that.
They make it possible to reach many more people.
Our voice carries more.
We can express ourselves in the moment, without filter, express our feelings.
As a professional athlete who is very popular on social networks, we have a duty to set an example in relation to young people.
I occasionally chat with former players.
In their time, they could go out, let go without seeing their life exposed on Twitter or Instagram.
We're normal people, but when you party it shows.
And if behind you do not win a match, we see a cause and effect relationship and you are singled out.