French World Cup Winning Coach Didier Deschamps’ call to Ferland Mendy in November caught the Lyon player off guard.
He had not expected to represent his country as he had never even done it at underage level and when he got injured at age 15, he was on the verge of quitting football.
Miracles are hard to believe for Mendy, though he needed one when he was in Paris Saint-Germain’s academy, for doctors to get him through his hip arthritis was an incredible achievement.
“I spent three months in a cast and then went to Bullion for six more months,” he explained after signing for Lyon.”The cast was removed and I was in a wheelchair, then a walker; I had to learn to walk slowly”.
Tireless and determined, he persevered and even had to learn how to play football again.
PSG freed him up and he spent time in the fourth tier with FC Mantois before joining Le Havre in 2013.
In 2017 he moved to Lyon, and now Real Madrid are knocking on his door.
It’s no miracle, either. It shows his commendable mentality that has made Zinedine Zidane so keen on him.