2023-07-28 20:00:07
Amel Majri (left) and Selma Bacha (right), Olympique Lyonnais players, in May 2023. ELISABETH RULL FOR “THE WORLD”
They are eight years apart and, logically, awards that do not have the same thickness. But Amel Majri, 30, and Selma Bacha, 22, have developed an endearing symbiosis since they have been dating at Olympique Lyonnais (OL).
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The two footballers have many similarities: from a working-class Rhone district (the Minguettes for the first, Gerland for the second), talented left-handers on the field, defenders who can turn into attackers and now team-mates with Les Bleues during the Coupe world in Australia and New Zealand (July 20-August 20). “This will be our first major competition together in the France team, we hope! »they let go together in a big burst of laughter, two months before the deadline.
In 2007, Amel Majri, 14, signed for OL. Two years later, 8-year-old Selma Bacha joined the club. From 2011, the first joined the first team, with which she had a string of successes (twelve French championship titles and seven Champions League). And in 2017, the second, who was then 16, became one of her eldest’s teammates.
The latter had heard of her youngest long before her arrival. After a hat-trick in a derby against Saint-Etienne in the youth category, Selma Bacha is immensely proud to receive a congratulatory text message from her idol. “It’s a derby, it’s a Lyonnaise, we have the same origins. It happened naturally”remembers Amel Majri.
“In fact, we complete each other”
“From an early age, Amel was my role model, says Bacha. Finding myself in the France team with her is a great source of pride. We thought that one day we would play together. » The 30-year-old never doubted it and predicted the international destiny of Selma Bacha: “I told him: ‘I’m waiting for your A jersey, I’m waiting to see you at Les Bleues.’ »
The project of the two young women materialized on April 7, in Clermont-Ferrand, during the first match of the Hervé Renard era, against Colombia. The left side of Les Bleues looked like a gang of Lyonnaises, Bacha lateral and Majri a notch above on the ground. International since 2014, the oldest is playing her third World Cup. Not selected in 2019, the youngest had so far only played Euro 2022 with the Blues.
Amel Majri, player in the French team for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in May 2023. ELISABETH RULL FOR “THE WORLD”
Before playing higher up the field, as a winger or number 10, Amel Majri played as a left side. At OL, Selma Bacha most often occupies this position. Very offensive – nine assists during the victorious campaign in the 2021/2022 Champions League, of which she was voted best young player – she often plays higher up the field in the France team.
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