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Helenio Herrera baptized him as El Brujo. The Argentine coach was impressed with the ease with which Tommy N'Kono (Dizangué, Cameroon, 1956) starred in huge stops. «I thought I surprised him. They told me that they came to see the game we played in the final tie for the 82nd World Cup, against Morocco, a great match, in which I stopped a penalty and won 0-2. It was one of the best of those we played before going to Spain, ”recalls the former goalkeeper, one of the great living idols of a Espanyol that is measured on Saturday at Real Madrid at the Bernabéu.

«I was fortunate to work with a Yugoslav technician, Vladimir Beara , who, by chance of life, came to Cameroon and changed my way of training. With him I learned techniques such as training against the wall, displacement, punching with fists ... He gave me all these little teachings and then, by force of practice, I felt as if I had a magnet in my hands to attract the ball », adds an N'Kono for whom that 82nd World Cup was a turning point.

He was the first who played his country. And he allowed him to show his quality across the globe. «It was the culmination of a career. I had played 10 years in Cameroon, I had won almost everything in Africa, I had won the African Golden Ball , but that tournament was the opportunity to make myself known worldwide, ”explains the former goalkeeper, linked to the Espanyol coaching staff since many years ago The blue and white club, precisely, bet on him after that World Cup event.

"I almost left on my shoulders"

"In what would be the way of training, language, culture ... Adapting was difficult, it took me a while, but with the help of my teammates and the people of the club everything was much faster than expected", highlights. Very soon, he became an idol for parakeet fans. His image, always wrapped in long sweatpants , was also very groundbreaking. «It was my personal seal. It is true that it was shocking that they saw me with long pants, but for me it was not strange. I started playing with shorts, but in Africa there were quite a lot of dirt fields, it was complicated, so when they gave them to me, I started to create a style with them, ”recalls the Cameroonian.

Another World Cup, that of Italy would be crucial for Tommy to change the fate of another great goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon . «I met Gigi years later, when I was in Parma. There also played a Cameroonian, Patrick Mboma. We chatted and invited him to my tribute in Cameroon. I will always remember. The day we were leaving there, he called me and said 'I'm here'. 'Can not be. Where are you? 'I replied. 'Here in Paris. Didn't we go to Cameroon? 'He replied. 'Don't move, I'm going to look for you,' I told him. He came to Cameroon, had a great time and a friendship was born in which, in the end, he confessed that, as a result of the World Cup in Italy, I was his inspiration to play as a goalkeeper. I felt very honored. He loves me a lot and the fact that he gave my name to one of his children [the eldest is called Louis Thomas] is an honor, ”says N'Kono.

For many, having it under sticks was almost like a talisman. Something that Jean Vincent , who was his coach with Cameroon, almost led to the extreme. “It all started with a friendly match in Germany, in which we were winning 0-1, but the referee looked like he was going to do everything he could to tie us. He punished a penalty and the coach got very angry, so I had to go talk to him, slap him on the back and say, 'Calm down, I'm going to stop him.' And I stopped it. When he finished, he said: 'You have to give me your shirt'. So I did it. Then I learned that, every time he was going to lead a game, he put it on, because he said he was very lucky, ”he says.

Visiting the Bernabéu is never easy. But N'Kono already made it very clear in his first game there that he grows up against adversities. «I almost left on my shoulders. To go to stadiums like this, a goalkeeper does not need motivation, because he knows that they will be attacking him all the time without stopping. I got a round game and tied 2-2. I think his second goal was scored by Juanito , may he rest in peace. Since then, whenever he went to the Bernabéu he had very good performances, ”he recalls.

Throughout his career as a player and as a coach, he has experienced some unpleasant moments. In 2002, in the African Cup, he was accused of burying an amulet in the grass . “It was quite unpleasant and I had a hard time, but I decided to take it with philosophy. In the end, the president of the Republic of Mali came to apologize for what had happened. It's football stuff, ”he assumes.

With Espanyol, meanwhile, he lived the bitterness of losing the UEFA Cup in 1988 on penalties, when everything seemed to play in his favor, after winning at home to Bayer Leverkusen 3-0, and, above all, losing the category. A risk that, at the moment, is very real for the blue and white. «Going down to Second Division is a pretty fat stick. Today, we have the opportunity to reverse the situation in the remainder of the League. We have to try to get the boys to understand that it will not be easy, but we have to get up and face this adversity, ”he reiterates.

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