From the height of his 17 years, Mohamed-Ali Cho blew up the Lyon defense last Sunday. This is not the first and will probably not be the last. The young French striker took the stages one by one without even blinking and with a humility to report.
Lyon will remember this for a little while. As in Strasbourg on the first day (2-0), he did not score, but it was he who caused most of the faults, until the red card for a double warning from Maxwel Cornet. And when Cho gave up his place 20 minutes from the end of the match, the Angers public, who finally found the stands of the Raymond Kopa stadium, reserved a standing ovation for this kid who could well set fire to his season.
–
“The season has only just begun”
“We put a tactic in place with the coach, it worked really well. We are still looking to work, to improve, the season has only just begun, we will continue to work”, promised Cho, a native of the Paris region. . Not too disturbed either not to have yet found the net himself under the Angevin jersey: “I’m not too worried, it will happen, that’s for sure. The most important is the work done by the team “.
This UFO with an atypical first name (but without reference to the famous boxer) and no less singular course, landed in Angers in spring 2020, after accelerated training between France (Paris SG) and England (West Ham, Everton), according to the professional trips of his parents. They were the ones who fell in love with the SCO when they returned to France in early 2020.
Mutual crush since the club, however less accustomed than others in Ligue 1 to leaving very young players, made him sign his first professional contract as soon as he left confinement.
Here he is at 16 in Stéphane Moulin’s pro group. The emblematic coach of Angers, who left for Caen this summer, brooded over him all last season but without giving him much playing time. The nugget was still breaking in….
–
“To be wise”
Very surrounded by his family, very comfortable in the locker room, he benefited this summer from good preparation and the arrival of Gérald Baticle, with a resolutely forward-looking philosophy. Established in front-center, when Moulin made him enter rather as a winger, he flies over the debates. “He has above-average natural qualities, his power, his running speed…”, notes Romain Thomas. “But he still has a lot to learn to influence the matches a little more.”
And now that the public asks for more and that the adversaries are warned, “the hardest part begins”, warns the Angevin defender. “But he has his head on his shoulders, he works, he listens to us. And the coach is behind him, he does not let go”. What follows will also depend on the performance of his teammates. Well helped by a Sofiane Boufal again in full possession of his means, Cho also benefited from the presence of Angelo Fulgini in the midfield.
But Angers needs cash and even if the end of the transfer window is approaching, the 25-year-old Angevin playmaker is still on the go.
–
