Hard to find the words.
Many football players who have played alongside Modeste M'Bami, at Sedan, at PSG, at OM or with the Cameroon selection are unable to speak this Sunday, the day after the sudden death at 40. of the former midfielder.
"Too shocked, it's too soon";
“the tears are still flowing”;
“Words will not be enough”: Bernard Mendy, Fabrice Pancrate, Ronald Zubar, Toifilou Maoulida, Mamadou Niang… Tributes are multiplying on social networks.
Parisians or Marseillais, all remember their "brother", born in October 1982 in Yaoundé and died Saturday of a heart attack in Le Havre, city of his last club.
"There was Christophe Revault last year, Modeste now ... It's a bit of amazement", is moved Jérôme Alonzo, ex-teammate of M'Bami at PSG between 2003 and 2006. " "It touches me enormously because I received his wishes a few days ago, explains Érick Mombaerts, coach of Le Havre from 2012 to 2014. He was trying to bring in talent from Cameroon.
He had sent me videos of players to which I had to respond.
I didn't have time to do it, it touches me all the more.
It's incredible.
We kept a lot of contacts.
There was a reciprocal appreciation even though I didn't see him for long.
He often sent me very nice messages.
“I will keep your good humor, your talent and your joie de vivre from you”
With nearly 300 professional matches played in France, Modeste M'Bami has had time to build up a huge group of friends.
His kindness and his smile are greeted by all, long before his talent as a midfielder who never let go.
“When he was in Le Havre, he was no longer the brilliant Modeste M'Bami of PSG, but he had good leftovers, notes Mombaerts.
He brought all his experience.
He had a radiance and an infectious joy.
It radiated around him.
We need this type of player in a locker room, in a group.
He radiates... He allows others to surpass themselves.
He was an extraordinarily kind person.”
In Cameroon, the country with which he won the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia), this "indomitable lion" entered into legend thanks to a golden goal scored in the quarter-finals of the epic against Brazil.
Alongside stars like Samuel Eto'o, now president of the Cameroonian Federation, or Patrick Mboma.
“I will keep your good humor, your talent and your joie de vivre from you.
Rest in peace my little brother, ”writes Rigobert Song, current coach of the Lions, on his social networks.
“I helped him because I believed in his qualities”
Despite all his experience, Modeste M'Bami had remained a discreet person, who had not appeared publicly since the end of his playing career in 2016. Based in Le Havre, he was just beginning to take the step towards a retraining .
“It was his future to be an intermediary, to recruit, to find talents in Africa, especially in Cameroon, to make them experience what he had experienced.
He wanted to help them find clubs, ”explains Érick Mombaerts.
To return the favor to the youngest, a way of imitating the legend Joseph-Antoine Bell (70 selections), at the origin of the installation of Modeste M'Bami in Sedan, in 2000.
"I did him a disservice," Bell says today.
The goal was not to save a child from Cameroon.
I helped him because I believed in his qualities.
His relationship with France could only be linked to his talent.
Results, he had a very good career.
Playing in Paris and at OM is not given to everyone.
Leave such an imperishable memory either.
And this is Modeste M'Bami's main success.
