At 41, Mathieu Valbuena is not done with football. Returning to Olympiakos last summer, the former Olympique de Marseille player plays with the Athenian club’s reserve, in the Greek second division. Enough to allow him to extend a career started in CFA2 with Langon, in Gironde.
“It’s the passion for the game. I feel so fulfilled in this club that I discovered at the end of my career,” he confided in an interview with L’Equipe, adding about Athens: “I imagined an old city and I fell under the spell. I like the people, the culture. And when José (Anigo) called me back for the reserve, I didn’t hesitate. Finding yourself 20 years later is magical. And I take monstrous pleasure. »
“The love I had for Marseille, I have it for Olympiakos”, he added before declaring his love for the Marseille club, where he arrived in 2006 from Libourne-Saint-Seurin, a national club, before leaving in 2014 to join Dynamo Moscow. However, in 2015, when he joined Olympique Lyonnais, not without having previously surveyed the Marseille leaders, Marseille supporters did not hesitate to hang a candle in his effigy, causing a real scandal.
“My favorite club is Marseille”
“That’s all over!” I even went to see certain groups of supporters at their premises. And if you ask me my favorite club, it’s Marseille, he assured. These fans gave me everything. They are the ones who made me become the guy who is sometimes a little insolent, a little temperamental, the carefree guy. »
“OM is a legendary club, a club with a history, a club where it is hard to sign, to last and play 331 matches, he continued. Do you realize that for someone from National? When you talk about Marseille here, they tell me: “It’s dangerous, how did you do it? » »Stop thinking that, it’s a magnificent city, exceptional supporters.
