Discovering Ndende Adama Gueye, the “Lion” of the Faroe Islands

Text by: David Kalfa Follow

While most African players are still deprived of competition because of the Covid-19, the Senegalese Ndende Adama Gueye, him, has resumed the path of training and matches for a few weeks. The "Lion", who has been playing in the Faroe Championship since 2008, has become a football figure in this small archipelago of 50,000 inhabitants located in the North Atlantic.

Publicity

On the phone, Ndende Adama Gueye's voice seems distant, like a symbol. We may be in France and the footballer in another European country, the Faroe Islands, we have the impression that the Senegalese is on the other side of the Earth. This is not entirely false when we consider the some 5,300 kilometers that separate this small archipelago in the North Atlantic, lost between Scotland and Iceland, from its native Thiès.

" I thought I was going to Denmark "

Ndende Adama Gueye, 37, will never forget this day in February 2008 when he landed in this region of some 50,000 inhabitants. "  When I arrived here, I had never heard of this country , says the one who had previously taken a test in Romania in 2004 and had played a few months in Poland in 2005-2006. During my trip, I thought I was going to Denmark [1] and I did not know this name : the Faroe Islands. It was too too too cold… As soon as my first training session ended, I called the agent who had brought me here. But the guy told me I had to stay a week or two to try to adjust. But I immediately told him 'no, I can't, I'm going to die of cold'  ”.

The B68 Toftir club is seduced by the qualities of this defensive athletic environment and clearly more technical than most local footballers. "  They told me 'you need to stay, we really need you' and they called my agent to insist.  "

A figure of local football

Ndende Adama Gueye then signs a one-year contract. At this time, it is far from imagining that he will make twelve others, representing the colors of five clubs of the first local division, Betri Deildin. “  People know me really well and respect me here , says the current resident of Tvøroyrar Bóltfelag . J have already been voted best defensive midfielder. It was in 2014, it seems to me  .

In more than a decade, the player trained at AS Thiès and passed through the Dakar Diaraf has seen other Africans disembark in the Faroe Islands. "  There are a lot of Ghanaians, Nigerians ," he says. The Championship is tough enough. There is not much tactics and technique. Here they like to play physical. When you watch the matches, it seems easy to you. But when you are in the field, you realize that it is a bit like in England  ”.

Soon to retire ?

In any case, Ndende Adama Gueye does not regret his choice and this long experience in the Faroe Islands, even if the stadiums are not always packed and the climate is rarely favorable for football. "  It is a good country. People are nice. They love footballers , the former international U21 slips. I had proposals in Denmark and Kuwait, but since I had a three-year contract at the time, the club would not let me go  . ” He adds: "  And then I told myself that I was comfortable here. Why would I leave? But with age, I tell myself that I may stop next year.  "

When everything is finished, Ndende Adama Gueye will no doubt return to Senegal, where he visits each year from October to January, during the off-season. He will then be able to relate his movements from island to island for the matches, the green landscapes, the thousands of sheep. "  In Africa, when I tell people that I live in the Faroe Islands, they look on the Internet and say to me : ' Is this this little country there ?! Where is it ?' They are amazed. "What kind of country is this?" He asks me. The most Faroese of all Senegalese will know what to answer them.

[1] The Faroe Islands have been an autonomous province of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948.

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Soccer
• Senegal
• Sports
• Portraits Africa Foot