Mamadou Niang doesn’t want you to think he’s God…

January 15th, 2008 | by: Magnusson |

After what has been one of the most impressive starts (save for Karim Benzema) in the French league this season, Mamadou Niang, “MR 50%” when it comes to Marseille, has been elected Player of the month for the second month in a row and the fourth time in his career (after may 2005 in Strasbourg and november 2005 at Marseille). He comes back to the “Lions’ Lair” with a new status and he just doesn’t want anything to do with the Messsiah title and I believe him to be right.
Talking with very serious journalist Abdoulaye Thiam in a live interview saturday night on TV, Mamadou wanted people to focus on the team and not on him with his newly received trophy of Senegal’s Player of the Year. The very modest player wanted everybody to tone down the hype and just let him breathe a little, even though he refers to himself at the third person:

“People shouldn’t try to put all the weight of the team on Mamadou Niang’s shoulders. We are a team of 23 players who are all professionals. We will go to the Can with all of these young men. And we must rely on the collective and not on one individual player. This is a group that is capable of doing something positive in Ghana.”

Speaking of his trophy

“I must say that my appointment by the national sports press as the best footballer this year is a reward that makes me very happy. I was not expecting it but now that I have been elected, I will try my hardest to honour this award at the CAN”

He wanted to add that each and everyone of our opponents at the CAN will be more than dangerous. Wether Tunisa, Angola and South Africa, each of these countries have been to the World Cup so they are part of the cream of the african teams. I like that none of our players seems to be overlooking the compettion yet. One of the biggest senegalese flaws is thinkingsome games are won on talent alone and that could come back and bite us in our asses. Everybody must remember the first half against Guinea in the quarterfinal of the last CAN. They nearly beat us and that should not happen again.