Macron: I was a nasty left-back
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron says he was a determined football player in his youth who “would not let go” and would motivate his teammates.
“I played left back. I was nasty though not very skillful. On the pitch, I was the sort that would not let go and would motivate the others,” he told the Telefoot programme on French channel TF1 on Sunday.
Macron lunched with the French squad at their training camp of Clairefontaine last week, a presidential visit that has become a ritual for French leaders ever since Jacques Chirac visited the squad in the run-up to the 1998 tournament.
France went on to triumph on home soil and Chirac’s popularity soared — just what the tonic Macron might be wishing for for his own ratings.
After a year in power, a raft of economic and social reforms have earned him the tag “president of the rich” among leftwing voters.
“A winning team gives back a lot of confidence,” Macron said. “I feel the team wants to succeed and bring back the cup.”
Macron has defied calls from rights groups to boycott this summer’s World Cup because of Moscow’s involvement in Syria’s civil war.
Macron, a fan of southern France’s Olympique Marseille, said he would travel to Russia if France reach the semi-finals.
“I said I’d come to see you when you got through the quarter-final. Note that I said ‘when’ and not ‘if’,” he told the players.
France will face Australia, Denmark and Peru in Group C at the World Cup, which begins on Thursday.