On Saturday evening, the Senegalese Sambou Soumano was one of the main architects of the Ruthenian success against Caen (3-2) rue Vieussens, by scoring a goal after a quarter of an hour. His first here. Focus on the player on loan for six months from Lorient.
S
ambou is very powerful, and he knows how to keep the ball when necessary.
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With these few words, Didier Santini said he was very satisfied with the option offered to him by the Lion of Teranga, Sambou Soumano, at the forefront of his attack, before the match against Caen. And it was not his performance the next day that was going to make him think otherwise. Because in addition to his physical qualities, which do not necessarily jump to the eyes immediately but which are very present, the number 35 arrived in January on the Piton has finally turned into a scorer. And how, since he sent the ball into an unstoppable area by the Calvados goalkeeper, flush with the right post, after a high class solitary action.
“It makes me happy to unlock my counter with Rodez. This goal will give me the confidence to score as many as possible afterwards”
rejoiced the main interested party at the end of the important victory of his family.
If he took ten matches (including eight in Ligue 2, and five as a starter) before scoring in blood and gold colors, the 22-year-old, who learned the basics of football at the Youth elite foot academy from Dakar, then to Pau, did not always need a long period of adaptation in his young career. During the 2020-2021 season, when he was playing in N2 on the side of Châteaubriant, Soumano immediately impressed his world. “Sambou arrived for a week’s trial with us. We organized a two-on-two with our best defenders, and after 30 seconds, we knew we were going to keep him, as he responded athletically and technical “recounted his trainer at the time Papy Leye, in the columns of the newspaper West France. A choice that paid off, since the current Raf striker had been the main player in the epic taking the Castelbriantais to the knockout stages of the Coupe de France, with five goals in six rounds.
The revelation among the Hakes
His performances in Loire-Atlantique earned him being spotted in the summer of 2021 by Lorient and the one who would become the main coach of the elite training a few years later, Régis Le Bris, then director of the center of training. And it is in Morbihan land that Soumano will explode. First with the reserves (11 goals in seven starts), then with the pros in Ligue 1. Initially in the rotation (and not among the first to appear there), the native of Dakar was able to earn a place more important within the workforce, scoring three goals in as many matches, against Lille, Nantes and Lens… Before returning to the bench, unable to repeat this fine sequence.
After six difficult months on loan near Eupen, Belgium, Soumano has therefore decided to relaunch this winter on the Piton. And it’s a safe bet that his goal scored this weekend will help him acclimatize even more. Even if it is now up to him to confirm his promises. Before leaving this summer for the Hakes.
Soumano and Corredor go hand in hand
When Sambou Soumano landed in Aveyron this winter, the latter dislodged Killian Corredor from his starting spot, during the matches against Sochaux and Nîmes. But after having taken a turn on the bench, the Senegalese found the eleven against Niort… alongside Corredor. A duo which was renewed on Saturday against the Stade Malherbe de Caen. And that worked. Already because they both put the ball in the back of the net. But also because their complementarity has continued to disturb the visiting defense. Their successive stalls in the middle of the field having made it possible to create sacred spaces behind. “We both use the space, we have a great connection”, analyzes Soumano. Enough to prove Didier Santini right, who had preferred the two men to Clément Depres, Joseph Mendes and Andy Pembélé.
