2023-07-23 14:30:10
“Welcome to Japan. Welcome to Paris Saint Germain! The Osaka heat didn’t dampen Yaz’s enthusiasm. Despite the big hour delay of the two red and blue buses from the Parisian club, his frenzy and his vocal cords did not suffer from the wait. Glued to the barrier that separates it from the forecourt of the luxurious Saint-Regis hotel, the service ambiancer suddenly rises in temperature. After already noticed tests carried out a few minutes earlier, the voice of the 29-year-old young man went into Champions League mode.
It’s 2:30 p.m. and the hearts of Osaka and the hearts of over a hundred fans suddenly beat faster. A little over an hour and a half after landing on the tarmac at Kansai Airport, Luis Enrique is the first “athlete” from the Parisian delegation to thrill the fans. Nothing, however, next to the frenzy triggered by the arrival of the players. Milan Skriniar is the first to stop and play the autograph game. Most, perhaps washed out by the twelve-hour flight, content themselves with smiles and waving.
Warren Zaire-Emery, Yaz’s favorite, comes into contact with the fans, followed closely by Achraf Hakimi and Presnel Kimpembe. Completely opposite, Yaz will not be able to transmit to the Parisian defender the gift – an arcade game – which he had planned for him. But all, in this crowd with various accents, are in heaven. Members of the Japan Fan Club, like those from China, like Yi, an electronics engineer, and his young comrades, Fei and Deana, who arrived the day before in the hope of meeting one of their idols.
In their bag, a manga-style painting representing Marquinhos and his family on the lawn of the Parc des Princes during the 11th coronation of champion in early June. A dozen jerseys, too, flocked in the name of Kimpembe, Vitinha, Neymar, Navas, Bernat, Verratti, Marquinhos or… Mbappé. This one, all those who came with his tunic know it, there will be no point in taking him out.
On the poster, Mbappé replaced by Verratti
To the chagrin of Feï, the Parisian number 7 is not part of the party. “Kylian is my favorite player, swears the 29-year-old fan, I was really very sad and disappointed to learn that he would not be there. But it’s a decision of the club, there is nothing to do, except accept it. That won’t stop us from continuing to support him and go to matches. “An opinion shared by most of the supporters present, members of the Japanese and Chinese fan clubs, passing by Sam the Australian fan of Chelsea, to Cécile co-pilot at Air France who admits however “to have passed there by chance and stayed by curiosity more than by passion for football. »
While the former “regional stage”, Patrick Mboma, provides “after-sales service” by measuring that his popularity rating is still intact, the Parisians have a little time to get their bearings and prepare their training business. Luis Enrique, Marquinhos, Lucas Hernandez and Marco Asensio, they do not hang around on the way, expected a few kilometers away for a press conference on arrival mainly organized for the Japanese press.
“We hope he will help us this season”
In the audience, no one noticed that the image of the Japan Tour broadcast behind the new coach and his three players has changed. Kylian Mbappé, placed in the center of the first version, has disappeared from the poster. Marco Verratti replaced him and we left Neymar, alongside the Italian and Kimpembe on his right, and Marquinhos and Hakimi on his left, the gondola head position. Invited to the ceremony, but logically not privileged, the French press will only have the right to one question out of the dozen asked.
“Can Paris do without a player of the quality and level of Kylian Mbappé? “A request that made Marquinhos smile, yellow, who first noticed that “even in Japan, you (the French press) are with your questions”, before answering the question. “It’s a delicate question because he is an exceptional player, very strong. But it’s a decision that goes above the players and concerns the management. We always want to have the big players on our side and I hope there will be a good solution, that he can be part of the group and help us this season. »
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