Trained at Paris Saint-Germain, Samuel Essendé was recruited this summer and for three years by the SM Caen. This tall 24-year-old boy (1m93) wants to continue his progress after passing through Eupen (Belgium), Avranches and Pau where he scored seven goals and made two assists last season. Here are four little things to know about this native of Montfermeil from a large family from the Congo.
He has a black belt in taekwondo.
“My father played football in Congo. We are a family of footballers. My big brother (Jean Paul) passed tests and stayed a year in Rennes but we will say that I am the only one to have become a pro.
I also come from a family of combat athletes. We have all done combat sports. I did judo when I was little then Taekwondo and Free Fight. I did until I was twelve-thirteen in competition. When I returned to pre-training, I continued until I was 19-20, but during the breaks. I am a black belt in Taekwondo. It still helps me for flexibility. On certain positions, on certain controls on the ground, it is necessarily useful to me.
Neymar made him a little bridge, the video went viral
“It’s a video among many others but at that time these friends had filmed. Otherwise, Neymar does things to anyone in training. It fell on me with this video but it If he had filmed all the gestures he made to me or to others, it would have gone around the world just as much.
But this one was particularly beautiful because it was a gesture he had never made. I am the first to have tasted (laughs). It’s Neymar anyway. As long as it comes from him, it doesn’t matter. First, I’m not a defender and then it was so instantaneous, sudden and instinctive that in no way would I have thought that he would do that.
His visits to Eupen and Avranches: a big salutary shock
“It was a big shock from every point of view: mentally, in terms of infrastructure, the level… I was trained in Paris from when I was twelve until I was twenty. I had only known Already in Belgium with Eupen, I was asked for something else in terms of play. I had trouble adapting and I also got injured. It was a complicated period.
In Avranches, I arrived during the covid period and suddenly I only did four months. I had to question myself. I made the choice to stay an additional season in National because there were a lot of things that I had to work on too. In Paris, we always favored playing with the ball, I didn’t necessarily need to have other qualities like keeping the ball with my back to the game. It’s not necessarily what I liked or what the I was asked in Paris. I was asked to play on my speed, to hit. But as I am tall (1m93) and I am quite imposing, I had to have this palette in my game. This passage in Eupen and in National allowed me to add this palette. And then from a mental point of view, it did me good to know a little bit about the bottom – while respecting Eupen and Avranches – and knowing that football is not just about glitter.”
He makes a lot of mistakes
Last season, La Ligue recorded 62 fouls on his part, which places him just below the Top 5 of the most penalized players in Ligue 2. This shows all the work of Samuel Essende as the first defensive curtain.
“A lot of top players talk about it. They say the role of the striker has changed. Before, you just had to attack and stay in front. Now, if you don’t want to concede, we have this role of first defender. That’s why we run a lot more, because we have to help the team. I don’t mind it and I also like running for the team. I committed a lot of fouls because when I press I’m quite aggressive because I want to get the ball back. That’s normal.”