At 17, Warren Zaire-Emery became the youngest player to play with the France team since 1914 on Saturday. After scoring and causing a red card, he left with an injury, hit in the right ankle, after 15 minutes of play.
Warren Zaire-Emery certainly didn’t imagine celebrating his first goal for the French team there, lying behind the opposing goal, surrounded by his teammates but suffering from severe pain in his right ankle. It was to be the meeting of the general public with the young prodigy of Paris Saint-Germain. It did take place but it was brief, fifteen minutes, which did not prevent “WZE” from showing off some of its qualities for its first selection against Gibraltar at the Allianz Riviera in Nice, Saturday November 18, before going out with injury.
Called up to the Blues for the first time nine days ago by Didier Deschamps, Warren Zaire-Emery became on Saturday, at 17 years and 255 days, the third youngest player to start with the France team since Maurice Gastiger in 1914 The latter retains the honorary title of youngest scorer for the Blues, but Warren Zaire-Emery did not wait long before scoring for the first time for the selection.
First contacts full of authority
Before the meeting, the Parisian had no idea that his first cape would be so short. His expected tenure was announced at 7:39 p.m. and his name timidly chanted by the audience at the Allianz Riviera. Obviously very determined when he entered the pitch for the warm-up, Warren Zaire-Emery saw Guy Stéphan, Didier Deschamps’ assistant, say a few words to him to advise him to slow down the pace to preserve himself for the match.
After the first Marseillaise with Aurélien Tchouaméni’s number 8 behind him, injured and absent for this rally, Warren Zaire-Emery first reassured himself with a few short passes. Before showing up on impact with a first foul and recovering the ball at the feet of Gibraltarian players overwhelmed by adversity. A few minutes later, “WZE” achieved what allows him to be a starter at PSG today.
An authoritative take on the ball in the middle, a shift towards Kingsley Coman and a projection into the area to take the winger’s cross. Warren Zaire-Emery then opened his account with the Blues but especially suffered the nasty tackle from Ethan Santos, excluded in stride, on his right ankle. A few minutes after leaving the field, we saw the young midfielder smiling on the sidelines.
The severity of his injury is not yet known and the French team staff should say more in the coming hours, to find out in particular whether Warren Zaire-Emery will be able to play against Greece next Tuesday in Athens. “He had a reaction where his ankle swelled enormously. He went urgently for examinations which ruled out a possible fracture even if the injury is significant. When there is a fracture, it takes many months. We will have to see quietly, it’s already a little reassuring”, commented Didier Deschamps after the match. But his first selection, perhaps the first in a very long series, will remain in everyone’s memory. Because making an impression in such a short time often bears the mark of great players.