This is the nice surprise of the last selection of Didier Deschamps: the Alsatian defender of RC Lens, Jonathan Clauss, joins the French team for the two friendly matches against Côte d’Ivoire (Friday March 25) and South Africa (Tuesday March 29). In the village of Osthoffen (Bas-Rhin) where he grew up, his family can’t get over it.
An atypical journey
It’s in a hotel room in Châtel, lying down after a skiing accidentthat her mother Josiane learned the news live, with her daughter Julie. “We screamed, screamed, screamed, so much that the manager of the hotel thought that I had fallen out of bed”she laughs. “It’s huge, it’s too strong”abounds the little sister of Jonathan.
It was she who played the goalkeepers when her brother was doing his classes in the garden of Osthoffen. Quickly spotted, the Alsatian defender was trained at Racing, before being dismissed at 18. “His football dream, I wanted to believe it, for him, but it was not easy”says his mother, very moved.
He then navigated between several amateur clubs. It is finally in Bielefeld in Germany, team with which he becomes second division champion, that he explodes at the highest level. But before that, he almost stopped everything.
– Julie Clauss
“He was supposed to go to Belarus, but the club canceled at the last minute. He told us ‘I’m going to find myself another, normal job’. The next day, he finally left for Bielefeld. It’s a miracle. I prayed with all my might for this”remembers Josiane.
People honk at us in the street, it’s only happiness
To see him a few years later, with the Blues jersey on his back, was unexpected. “I still can’t realize. When he calls us with the Blues tracksuit… It’s huge”, continues his sister, extremely proud. So much so that she has decorated the housewith Blue-White-Red flags marked “CLAUSS” with the image of his brother.
– Jules Hauss
More than family, it’s the whole village of Osthoffen (800 inhabitants) which is delighted with the success of Jonathan Clauss. “People come to congratulate us, honk at us in the street. They really like Jonathan, who has stayed in touch with all his friends at the time. It’s just happiness”smiles Josiane.
It is therefore a whole village that crosses its fingers so that the 29-year-old side plays his first minutes in Blue on Friday evening, against Côte d’Ivoire (9:15 p.m.). He is the first Alsatian to play in Blue since Morgan Schneiderlin.