Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Thursday November 23, 2023 at 11:35 a.m.
Nicknamed “the new Zidane” after scoring twice for his first selection for the French team against Ukraine in 2011, Marvin Martin admits that this comparison has “served him more than anything else”.
We talk to him about it again. On June 6, 2011, during a friendly match against Ukraine played at the Donbas Arena in Donetsk, Marvin Martin had lived a real waking dream for his first selection for the French team. Coming into play a quarter of an hour from the end to replace Yohan Cabaye, the Sochalian will-o-the-wisp scored a nice double in the final minutes (87th, 90th+2), meanwhile delivering a decisive pass from a corner to Younès Kaboul . A great ideal first, which had caused quite a bit of excitement, like this famous front page of Parisian : “Is he the new Zidane?”
A final selection for the premiere of Deschamps
And this because the pocket leader, nicknamed “MM” had, like “ZZ” scored a double during his first selection, and he also displayed a silky technique. Except that, unlike Marseillais, the Parisian by birth never managed to confirm and experienced his 15th and final selection a year later during the first of Didier Deschamps on the French bench, without having managed to score again with the Blues. After leaving Sochaux, he passed through Lille, Dijon and Reims, without winning, Martin then joined, in 2019, Chambly and Ligue 2, which he had already known with the Burgundian club, before going down again. two levels lower in 2021, at Hyères (National 2), where he is still playing.
“The comparison was enormous”
Invited by RMC, “MM” returned to this comparison with “Zizou”, and recognized that it had not necessarily been an advantage. “I didn’t suffer from it, but it doesn’t help. I put myself in a shell. Zidane was my idol. The level of expectations among people was no longer the same. Being compared to Zidane was too much. I had already spent several years in Ligue 1 but the comparison was enormous. I closed in on myself, it served me more than anything else,” admitted the 35-year-old.
#Blues #Martin #compared #Zidane
