The world of football did not know him until a few months ago. But Mali international midfielder Kamory Doumbia, currently with the Eagles in Ivory Coast for CAN 2024, at the age of 20, entered the spotlight a little over a month ago in Ligue 1.
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By scoring a quadruple with Brest against Lorient in one half, on December 20, 2023, the man nicknamed the Spinning Top became the second player to achieve this performance over the last 60 years in the French championship, after Edinson Cavani.
The Eagles playmaker is better known for his scoring talents in Mali: since his first selection, on September 23, 2022, Kamory Doumbia has scored 5 goals in 11 selections. Added to this are 3 assists, including 2 delivered to Lassine Sonayoko during this edition of the CAN - against South Africa (2-0) and against Tunisia (1-1).
Kamory Doumbia was voted Man of the Match against Tunisia! 🇹🇳
He is now decisive in ALL of Mali's last 5️⃣ matches 🌟 pic.twitter.com/W1P5MQ81tP
— Les Aigles Du Mali 🇲🇱🦅 (@AiglesDuMali_) January 21, 2024
“His quadruplet (in Ligue 1) caused a lot of talk, but it didn’t surprise me, he’s a devil in front of goal,” Vincent Dufour, who spotted and recruited him, told AFP about him. at 11 years old at the Jean-Marc Guillou Academy in Bamako.
Before this performance, Kamory Doumbia had not yet really distinguished himself in the French championship - in Reims, then on loan to Brest - with only 5 goals scored in 50 matches played.
“I made others dizzy”
But the young Malian midfielder still quickly took the steps that led him towards a professional career. It all started with a passion for football and a “normal” childhood life, as he explained in an interview with Onze Mondial in June 2022: “I had a normal childhood, like that of all young people in Bamako. I always loved football, but I didn't like going to school."
Coming from a family of seven brothers and three sisters, with a cook father and a stay-at-home mother, Kamory Doumbia first played in his neighborhood training center, before being invited by the Jean-Marc Guillou Academy from Bamako. During the tournament, he "shine" and was recruited by Vincent Dufour.
He was then notably trained with Rominigue Kouamé (currently at Cadiz, in La Liga) and Yves Bissouma (at Tottenham, in the Premier League), who is also playing in the CAN with him. It was during his time at the Academy that Kamory Doumbia was nicknamed La Toupie: "When we played 6 against 6, I rotated the ball well, so they called me 'La Toupie' because I gave makes others dizzy,” he explains.
The young player is then spotted and recruited by Reims. Kaomory Doumbia's adaptation to his new environment is going well, except in terms of... the climate. He remembers: "When it started to get cold, I experienced my first shock. When we were training, it was 2°C. When I made a pass or a shot, I couldn't even feel my foot ."
A “real” No. 10 who has “everything for the very high level”
What follows is an express adaptation to the demands of Ligue 1, even if he still has a lot of room for improvement. “Normally it doesn't take three chances to score one,” continues Vincent Dufour, now general director of JMG Academies. "It's more a question of confidence, he has it completely with the Mali jersey on his shoulders. There he is an offensive boss, he is not afraid to take the game into his own hands."
His coach at Brest, Éric Roy, had noted this dichotomy. In November, “he scored two goals in two matches” with the Eagles, in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, against Chad (3-1) and the Central African Republic (1-1), recalls the Brest technician. “So when he came back, before the match against Montpellier, we told him, now you have to start scoring with us. And he did it in the match against Montpellier (3-1 victory). So, in fact, to 'Kamo', you just have to ask him, what!”.
The positioning of Kamory Doumbia also seems important to get the most out of him. According to Eric Roy and Mali coach Eric Chelle, the young midfielder shines especially in the playmaker position.
"For me, he's a No. 10, a real one like we don't see many anymore. He moves well between the lines, makes his team play while being able to be on the last pass or finish ", explained Éric Chelle to Ouest-France on December 2. “He’s a real No. 10 scorer,” adds Vincent Dufour. “We hope that he will confirm, because he has everything for the very high level.”
Humble and aware that he can still progress, Kamory Doumbia will surely be keen to shine again against Burkina Faso, Tuesday January 30, in the round of 16 of the CAN. When Onze Mondial asked him about his dreams, he immediately thought of the Eagles: “I would like to win as many titles as possible, especially trophies with my nation, Mali”. “Apart from football, I dream of helping as many people as possible, especially orphans and people in need.”
With AFP
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