Farid, Hamzi, and Karim. They have their hands clinging to the fences at the exit of the stands, they watch for the players who come out one after the other: “Samir, Samir!”, they scream, when the great striker of Bergerac Périgord Football Club finally emerges from the locker room, after the shower and an anti-doping test. He has just achieved a historic feat for Périgord with his team, taking out the legendary club Les Verts de Saint-Etienne in the round of 16 of the French Football Cup (1-0).
800 km to come and see Samir play
Samir Bakir, he comes from there. He grew up in Saint-Chamond, played his first balls on the city-stadium of the town, with these friends. They have just driven four hours to see him play against their favorite club: “If you knew what it does to my heart… Pfouah, what’s happening to me is exceptional. They traveled 800 km to see me, I did my first footballs with them!”.
We took the Fiat 500 to come, we left our children and wives at home there, to show him our love and support
– Hamzi
His friends, they are workers at EDF, Arcelor Mittal, the third is an educator. They hit the road at nine in the morning to see their friend, play against the club of their childhood : “Very very proud”, summarizes Hamzi, “We have always followed Samir. We took the Fiat 500 to come, we left our children and our wives at home there, to show him our love and our support. It’s true that the Greens, we are vaccinated since our childhood, but Samir is blood, we supported Bergerac! And now that they have won, because of them, we will have to come back!”
“Do you have to leave now?”
The time to take a photo, we must already leave. Samir Bakir is almost disappointed: “Do you have to leave now?”, he asks. “Hey, there’s office tomorrow”, answer his friends. They will hit the road the same evening to go to work Monday morning. But they will return for the quarter-finals: “Especially if it’s PSG!”