Bakary Sako remembers a broken dream just before touching the goal. In an interview with Tightnessthe former AS Saint-Étienne player returns to an improbable anecdote who prevented him from winning a first selection in France A team. At the time, then international in the youth categories to the hopes, Sako was in full ascent and seemed close to the Grail.
“When I get back from training, I go to the locker room, everyone jumps over me. Everyone is happy, I am congratulated. The coach too. My phone rings everywhere “tells the attacking midfielder, who believed himself officially selected. The effervescence was total and the dream seemed to come true.
But fate has decided otherwise. Shortly after, Laurent Blanc, then coach of the Blues, granted an interview to
Bfmtv in which he confirmed an error: “He lacked a letter”explains Sako. “And a few minutes later, he (Laurent Blanc) has an interview on BFM and he said he was mistaken for Sakho. It was the other, it was Mamadou Sakho. (…) I was in the pre-selection of the A. But there was me and there was Mamadou Sakho. »»
“He cut my legs to me”
This confusion, as absurd as it is unparalleled, has deeply marked Bakary Sako, who confides with bitterness: “He cut my legs. Since that day, I no longer wanted to hear about the French team. »» A hard blow that changed the course of his international career.
He then chose to represent Mali, his country of origin. “”
I was told that I was going to be treated like a king in Mali. Shortly after signing in Wolverhampton, I joined the Malian selection, and I do not regret ”he concludes.
