{"id":18001,"date":"2025-08-13T06:16:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T06:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/?p=18001"},"modified":"2025-08-13T06:17:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T06:17:46","slug":"dembeles-ballon-dor-charge-from-wasted-years-to-footballs-pinnacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/?p=18001","title":{"rendered":"Dembele\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or Charge: From Wasted Years to Football\u2019s Pinnacle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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By Julius Anyula<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was one of the defining images of this year\u2019s Champions League final in Munich \u2014 Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 crouched in a sprinter\u2019s stance, ready to pounce on every Inter Milan goal-kick. He didn\u2019t score that night, but his relentless pressing became the perfect symbol of Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s what it means to lead a team,\u201d coach Luis Enrique beamed afterwards. \u201cTell me another No. 9 in Europe who presses the goalkeeper and centre-backs like that<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, 28, this season has been nothing short of a redemption arc. From a player once labelled \u201ccrazy\u201d by German legend Lothar Matth\u00e4us to the heartbeat of a Champions League-winning PSG, his turnaround is now so complete that next month, he could be crowned men\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be richly deserved. Last season, he combined deadly finishing with elite playmaking, topping nearly every attacking metric in European football. Only his pressing numbers, showcased in that Munich final, remained unmatched by anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The journey here has been turbulent. From teenage hype at Rennes \u2014 where Mika\u00ebl Silvestre compared him to Cristiano Ronaldo \u2014 to a record-breaking move to Barcelona, Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 seemed destined for greatness. But poor discipline, late-night gaming sessions, questionable dietary habits, and an unhelpful entourage derailed his progress. Injuries piled up, and critics dismissed him as a squandered talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He admits now that those were \u201cfive lost years\u201d \u2014 a harsh self-assessment that came into focus after a nightmare outing in the 2022 World Cup final, where he conceded a penalty and was substituted before halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter Luis Enrique. The Spaniard demanded more from Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, but the real transformation came from within. \u201cIf you want to be a great player, you have to work. Talent is not enough. I didn\u2019t know that before,\u201d Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 confessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In football, comebacks of this magnitude are rare. Yet here he is \u2014 pressing like a man possessed, creating like an artist, finishing like a predator. A leopard may not change its spots, but this one has sharpened its claws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 join Matth\u00e4us as a Ballon d\u2019Or winner, it will be more than a personal triumph \u2014 it will be one of football\u2019s most remarkable resurrection stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Julius Anyula It was one of the defining images of this year\u2019s Champions League final in Munich \u2014 Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 crouched in a sprinter\u2019s stance, ready to pounce on every Inter Milan goal-kick. He didn\u2019t score that night, but his relentless pressing became the perfect symbol of Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s transformation. \u201cThat\u2019s what it means …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":18004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18003,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18001\/revisions\/18003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}