For the former Parisian Valdo, "PSG must win the C1 to be respected"

From our special correspondent in Lisbon,

“I did a little jog early this morning. I like to run to the university campus. “Valdo is doing well in his 56 years, a question of healthy living. However, it is in the restaurant called the beer museum, on the Place du Commerce in Lisbon, that the former player of Paris Saint-Germain gave us an appointment to talk about the final of the Champions League, that he looks forward to this group of players he was able to approach at the Sporting training center after the victory against Atalanta Bergamo. If he has a good feeling for his old club, he refrains from boasting. Because he's Brazilian, and opposite, it's a German team. Interview with a man who never makes the same mistake twice.

PSG are in the final, do you find this performance justified and how do you see their progress over the past few years?

I think both teams deserve to be in the final. Paris deserves because it's not just the Paris of today, it's the one that began in the past. Before myself, Suzic and company. Little by little, we climbed, we climbed. The arrival of the Brazilians, then Ginola, Weah. And then we brought in Rai, and it started to climb, little by little. We go to the Cup, we made good performances and we were eliminated against Arsenal. Then there is the famous game against Real. Then we eliminate Barça, but we are taken out by Milan. I think it was all to prepare Paris Saint-Germain for the future. All this means that today Paris has really become strong. Paris arrives at a good time in the Champions League final. You remove Kylian Mbappé and Kimpembe, the others are all 26, 27, 28 Neymar, 30, 32 years old… Navas, three-time winner of the Champions League. It is an experienced group. They have it all. All the assets are there.

But on the other side, there is Bayern ...

Bayern, you can't decipher them. They are as cold as ice cubes. You don't know if they're in pain, laughing, if it's a joke. That's the danger with the German teams. Lyon attack, Gnabry takes the ball, scores. Come on, let's go home. That is the strength of the Germans.

You who have seen the life of this group up close, what makes PSG work there?

The other years it worked too but we didn't go to the end. Even in our time you can't say it didn't work. It worked, except you pay the price for being young. We're talking about Europe there. There are only sharks! Juventus, Inter, AC Milan, Bayern, Real, Barça, Liverpool. City which is among them too. These players have been together for some time. This is the price of being really great. I think Paris is coming at the right time for the final, with a lot of experience. When I was in the Sporting training center with the PSG players, what I felt was the love between them, the friendship, the bond between the players and the coach. When it's like that, it's perfect.

Keylor Navas, when he talks, who will dare say no? No one. Because he can say: “I have three Champions Leagues, kid, so you shut your mouth and we'll do as I say. "

How do you translate this love into the behavior of the players?

They've been together for a lot of years, so besides, they're together every day now. There they have been in the same hotel for about 15 days. Imagine, without women or children, nothing. If you don't have love in the group after three days it's a mess (laughs)! I don't know Tuchel personally, but I find that in the image he conveys he is cool, he is sure of himself. He's firm but he's cool. And he's young. He also jokes with the players. And when you look at the PSG workforce, you see that most of the players are married. There are very few singles, and the young people who are not are very cool. Kylian Mbappé is not a controversial guy. The problem would have been that Kylian Mbappé did not get along with Neymar. But they're still together, they like to joke together and all that helps. Without love, let it go.

There is one player whose arrival seems to have made the difference in this loving group that you describe, it is Keylor Navas. Beyond the fact of finally having a great goalkeeper, what does it change to have such a titled guy in the locker room?

On the pitch when you watch the squads before the match and the first name that comes out is Keylor Navas, three-time Champions League winner. Damn, there's nothing to say. You don't need to have the armband to be a leader. Navas is one of the captains. He doesn't talk too much, it's the gesture, the positioning, the look. There are a lot of things that matter. And when he speaks, who will dare to say no? Because he can say (he claps his hands three times): "I have three Champions Leagues, kid, so you shut your mouth and we'll do as I say." “I think Navas is as much a captain as Thiago Silva. When he speaks, everyone listens to him.

There's obviously Neymar, too. Looks like with all the hardships he's been through, he's become a man. Before, he was still a protected child and there he became a man ...

Yes. The Neymar process, it is complex. Did Neymar want to go to Paris? Paris arrives with the check and drops the clause. Then he settles with Neymar. It's different than if Neymar asked to leave Barcelona. When he arrives at PSG, that's my opinion, he sees that the French championship does not have the same flavor as La Liga. And all the same at the time Paris was not yet strong, strong, strong. He arrives, everyone is waiting for him, France stops, the Eiffel Tower lights up for him, there is all this decor… He plays good matches, some not so good. You could tell he wasn't comfortable in his head yet. Because he was young.

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He's been in Paris for three years. After there were injuries, he also experienced a lot in his private life. All this makes that Neymar evolves. At 28, he looks and says to himself "if I really want to win the Golden Ball" I really have to be Neymar. And there he is really Neymar, the one who enchanted us at Santos, in the national team and at Barça. We finally find the Ney who left Barça. Neymar takes the ball, he goes into it. Before, he came in the middle, he touched the ball, it looked like he was sulking. Today when he takes the ball you know he's going to do something and then afterwards he's going too fast. He's not fast in pure speed, but with the ball pff. It's different from Kylian. Kylian he could do 100 meters easy. He goes quickly with the ball, without the ball. Both sets, let's hope they have a good night. And there the Germans will have problems.

We must beware of German teams. In addition they have sacred ball players. When you see the middle… Thiago Alcântara, you give him a square ball, he makes it round, clean. But we have Kylian and Neymar. It's the atomic bomb.

We have the impression that they both understood that they were complementary, that they needed each other. Are they the best attacking duo possible?

I'm sure and certain. Neymar and Kylian? Pff. Me if I am an opposing defender, I do not sleep the day before if I know that the next day there is Neymar and Mbappé opposite. You saw when Kylian was on the sidelines against Bergamo when he came home, the difference it made. Neymar, Kylian, it's the same as Messi. Do you think the Germans will sleep peacefully? They say nothing, but Boateng, there he is thinking of Messi who makes him fall, poof, like that on the buttocks…

To come back to the match, we have the feeling that Lisbon is more Paris than Bayern ...

(He cuts) This is Paris (laughs)! You are in my garden, all this here is Paris. We're going to set it on fire on Sunday, you'll see. Sunday there will be Paris flags everywhere there. Me, I like party atmospheres like that. In 2014, for the catastrophic Brazil-Germany match, I brought all the Brazilians to the restaurant. There were almost 400 people, hell general, there were only Brazilians. And suddenly there is a guy who arrives with the German jersey. And the guys wanted to nab it. I opposed, saying “democracy anyway”. I speak with him, proud of my Brazil, saying “welcome no worries. But you know it's a Brazilian house here. If by chance you score a goal you should not commemorate. And they put in seven… Fuck seven. Seven. That's the problem with the Germans, you never know what they have in mind.

Do you make the connection between the 7-1 and the upcoming Paris game against Bayern?

No, I'm just saying that you have to beware of German teams. In addition they have sacred ball players. When you see the middle. Thiago Alcantara, you give him a square ball, he makes it round, clean. But we have Kylian and Neymar. It's the atomic bomb. After, for me the only one who can do things like Neymar and Kylian on his own is Gnabry. He has one of these explosives in the legs ... After the others merge into a collective. The team that will make the fewest mistakes will be the champion.

There is something that Paris does not have despite having great players, it is the recognition of belonging to the class of the big clubs. Like Manchester City. Why ?

Paris Saint-Germain today is a well-known club. But he is not respected. To be respected, Paris must win titles like the Champions League. This is where you start to plant your flag to say, “we are here”. With all the means they have, if they don't win the Champions League, they are dead. If PSG beat Bayern Munich, it starts there. Today if he wins, and that the following year he confirms… I do not necessarily say that he wins it again but that he is there among the semi-finalists, that's it, it will be launched, and he will be part of Sharks. It will be time that will do things. The important thing is confirmation. Anyone Can Win. Staying on top is another matter.

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