Midfielder Moustapha Name will discover the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon with Senegal. A great reward for the one who is currently an executive at Paris FC, his club and who is still biding his time in selection. For those close to him, there is no doubt: Name is the present and the future of Lions. Back on the route of a gifted player with a winding course.
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Senegal begins this Monday its 16 th participation in the CAN with its armada of stars. Édouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly , Idrissa Guèye and Sadio Mané. Replacing in this selection since his first call in November 2020, Moustapha Name is one of the beautiful nuggets of local Senegalese football.
It is first of all in studies that the young Moustapha shines. At the time, until then, no one had seen the influence of football on him. “ He was very brilliant at school,” his father recalls. He was in the top three. But little by little he began to skip school to go and play football. He was also good at football. When her mother saw it, she told me. I was a little surprised at his school results. I told him that if it was his choice, he had only to assume it and that I was going to accompany him ”confides Saliou Name.
Football, a family affair
Supported by his family, it was now his turn to play. And the predispositions were already there. A family heritage. Moustapha Name’s dad also made a career as a footballer. He was a striker in his time during the 1970s, early 80s at the historic club Dial Diop. He is also working for AS Police. Just like his maternal uncle nicknamed Grand Mbodji and former resident of US Gorée. But the one who undoubtedly transmitted the fever of the round balloon to the small Moustapha, it is his big brother El hadj Abdoulaye Name.
The former player of AS Douanes until 2006 does not hesitate to take his little brother to smell the scent of the Senegalese championship fields and the Navétanes (famous popular neighborhood championship). “ When I played in Senegal, I always took him with me, remembers Abdoulaye Name. In training and sometimes also at the stadium. He was always immersed in football, he was born there and he grew up there . In 2006, he left Senegal to discover Portuguese football. Moustapha Name then aged 11 takes the torch to follow in the footsteps of his big brother. ” Many people compared him at the time to his big brother Abdoulaye Name, whom he was competing with ” proudly launches dad Saliou Name.
The winding road to success
Trained at the Dakar Sacré-Cœur football academy, Moustapha Name quickly exhibited his technical ease. In 2015, his trials at the Lokeren club were conclusive. While he thought he had reached the goal, administrative problems prevented him from starting his career in the Belgian championship. He waits several weeks and finally decides to play in the local championship. An episode which proves the precocious maturity of the 20-year-old player. “ He went to Belgium but it was not easy, underlines his former coach at AS Douanes. He nevertheless had the courage to return to the country to revive himself. And that is the mark of the greats. It shows that he is someone who believes in him and in his qualities, ”adds Joseph Senghor.
On his return from Belgium, he discovered the Senegalese championship. And as it was written in advance, it was at AS Douanes, the last local club of his big brother Abdoulaye, where he signed in 2016. In 2018, his career exploded with the Gabelous. Name shows off his immense talent in the Senegalese Ligue 1 by scoring 12 goals. “ He’s a good midfielder with great technical skills. It was used as a relay medium at the time, remembers Jo Senghor. We had a sentry in front of the defense. He and Modou Birame Ndiaye were just ahead in torchbearers. With his understanding of the game and his ease with the ball, he was invaluable in the midfield. But it was in his capacity for projection that he excelled the most. That season he had scored a lot of goals. “
In 2018, Senegal is setting up its selection in anticipation of the first African Cup of mini-football. Name is part of the group of coach Cheikh Sidy Ba, finalist of the competition and bronze medalist at the World Cup in Nabeul, Tunisia a year earlier. His technical qualities explain the importance he had in the course of Senegal in mini-football. Quite an introvert, Name was nonetheless a group leader.
“ He’s a player who knows how to blend into a collective, easy-going, rather introverted, but in the work we feel he’s a leader. He is not a leader of a man but rather a leader by his charisma and his technical ease (…). He was the technical leader of the team to the point that I wanted to make him the captain. But AS Douanes had a way of operating which favors seniority for the captaincy, ”describes coach Jo Senghor.
Moustapha Name, a local pride at CAN
In the summer of 2018, Moustapha Name returned to Europe in the French 3rd division, on the side of Pau FC. The Senegalese is a more mature man at 23 and asserts himself in his first season. He confirms the following season being more decisive. While waiting for the National A team, the UFOA 2019 tournament will be its first international tournament. “ I was assistant coach of Serigne Saliou Dia and we had the possibility of calling on expatriates for the tournament. So I asked the coach to look at Moustapha Name who has proven himself in Senegal but who had never been called up in the selections. But they weren’t FIFA windows. Name managed to free himself despite the reluctance of his club ”tells coach Joseph Senghor.
Well he took it! He achieves a successful competition which offers him visibility in the country, which did not leave Aliou Cissé indifferent to believe coach Jo Senghor. “ He started every game, had a very good tournament and Senegal won the UFOA Cup. I believe he has marked the spirits since then and the coach Aliou Cissé was able to realize it. A year later, he was called to the national team A by Aliou Cissé during the double confrontation against Guinea Bissau. His performances in club and his versatility push Aliou Cissé to regularly summon him in the den. And supreme happiness arrives at the end of December 2021 when the list of 27 Lions whose Moustapha Name is made public.
“It is a great pride to see my young brother selected to compete in a competition as important as CAN, ” Abdoulaye Name moved. Same story with Momo Cissé. Former Teungueth FC defender and great friend of Name is just hoping for more playing time for his neighbor at Liberty 4. “His selection for the Africa Cup did not surprise me. I know him well enough to say that it is deserved, given his performances with Paris FC and his qualities (…). I only want one thing: that the coach makes him play once at his post in the middle, I am convinced that he would not come out of the 11 anymore. It is a box-to-box as we rarely see in our soccer. He was nicknamed Paul Scholes. “
Moustapha Name@ Africa News24 ™ Flash Light News
“Paul Scholes” even allowed himself to upset his great friend during a poster for the local championship in 2018, says Momo Cissé. “ We never played together. He has always been my opponent. One day, when I was at Teungueth FC and he at AS Douanes, we faced. We were promised a bonus of 250,000 francs in the event of victory. They led very quickly 1-0. I didn’t give him a present during the match. Every time, when I tackled him, he would complain to the referee. He said to me: ” but big Momo, don’t tell me that because of 250,000 CFA, you want to end my life (laughs)? ”. At the final whistle, there was no winner. We equalized at the very end of the game and he hugged me. “
Moustapha Name, a future executive of this selection thinks the coach Jo Senghor. “ I really don’t doubt his qualities. I know that his hour should not delay in the national team (…) Name only lacks accountability in the national team. But it’s normal that it takes time because the coach has his typical team. He can give us a lot of satisfaction because he understands the game, he is versatile. In the middle, he can evolve as a sentry or a torchbearer.
