He was a ball collector and assiduous spectator in the stands of Charléty to encourage his elders of Paris FC.
"I always said to myself that one day, I would play on this lawn too", smiles Ousmane Camara, 18 years old.
The big night has arrived for the central defender of 1.97 m, from the Saint-Blaise district (Paris XXth) and dismissed at Paris FC since the age of 9.
Her 3 brothers and 2 sisters also played there or still play there like Fatoumata (with the female U16s).
After a successful first interim against Grenoble (4-0), he will again start against Dunkirk, in front of his family and friends.
“I think I would have a little more pressure, because it is in Charléty but I dreamed so much of living this moment… It is a pride to play pro in my club of heart.
Paris FC made me grow humanly, I learned sharing, solidarity, I settled down.
I also worked a lot to get there, I never got discouraged.
"
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Its beginnings were indeed complicated. Already a little taller than the others, he oscillates between the B and C teams in his category while his generation (2003) shines in tournaments across France and at the Danone Cup (3rd in the world final in 2015) with players like Hannibal Mejbri (now Manchester United) or Ismaël Gharbi (PSG). “I wasn't good enough,” he admits. I lacked everything, speed, technique, intelligence, there were so many better players than me. ”At the time, he was given nicknames that were not very nice. “I was called zombie or marshmallow because I was found to be limp and sleepy,” Ousmane recalls. It was not very pleasant to hear. But it was to sting me in the right direction. I had the click in U15 thanks to Abasse Chanfi.He framed me well by speaking to me like an adult. "
The educator remembers their conversation on a Saturday in October 2018. “He had not come to training the day before and I summoned him with his brother,” says Abasse Chanfi. I was quite vocal. I told him: "
I'm one of the few at the club to believe in you and you do this to me ... Either you walk with me, whatever I ask you, you do it, or we move on"
. He had a personality but he had a hard time verbalizing it. It is the brain that often moves the legs forward. Ousmane just needed the time because he has a mind of steel and doesn't let people impress. I was tough on him, but the moment he clicked and figured it out, everything was fast for him. "
Last season, Camara signed a professional contract in November at the age of 17, made his first debut in L2 (3 appearances) and then became an U18 international. “I don't know if I'm an example, but I'm showing that when you believe in yourself and hold on, you can succeed even from a long way off. I have not forgotten where I come from, my family gave me certain values and I will keep the same seriousness because it is just a first step ”, explains the high school student in the final year. "He does not attract by his passing of the legs but he is effective and that is what counts for a trainer, estimates Thierry Laurey his trainer. He is attentive, attentive, always has a smile and he has a good quality of recovery. He is lucky to have started and to be able to continue, it's up to him to seize it… ”