The Bridge : S01-E03 | Ft Samuel Eto'o, Cédric Doumbé, Mike Maignan and Redouane Bougheraba (🇬🇧 SUB)

Intro Welcome ! But you're not taking your car back, We wrecked it. It's fear, in the field and in the cage, that makes you perform. If you don't have that drive, you're not crazy, you don't have that mentality, you can't be a goalkeeper. The day I was due to perform, I was taken into custody. It’s useless looking there, I saw you. I used to be a dustman. The first appointment I have, is at Canal+. In 2002, you had the team to win the World Cup ? We came away with four points. Roooh Samuel.... Hi there everyone and welcome to "The Bridge". You know what it's all about: incredible journeys, extraordinary people. Today, we're delighted to welcome football legend Samuel Eto'o, the best French fighter Cédric Doumbè, and "the one and only" Redouane Bougheraba. Now, that's an awesome cast. And, today, it's a special show totally in French. That's right, the show's in French, but, let's not forget our slogan, "The Bridge is on". Okay guys, we're really over the moon to have you with us today. I hope you're all doing fine. Samuel and the interviews We're in great company here. - We're with the family. We're with the family, but we've got a legend with us. Mr. Samuel Eto'o's here today. Like we said in the intro, We're honored! What grace! - Just incredible. What's more, Samuel's really dangerous in interviews. There's going to be some real gems. - No, come on. You're lying! One of the best interviews of my life, was Samuel's interview on beIN Sports. Ah yeahhh! - It was legendary. It's one of the rare interviews, at times I'm just chilling with my team we can be like this, we set our phone up and watch the interview. Honestly... - It's a real classic. We were just saying the truth but you know, in our world, people don't often tell the truth. Waffle. - Waffle, for everything. But, did you need to speak out that day? Not necessarily, but things had to be said. There were situations in Barcelona where the press presented things in a certain way. Things just needed to be put back in their place, that's all. I wasn't attacking anyone, I was only telling the truth. Well, tonight, we're only going to tell the truth. Redouane, of course, a legend too, when it comes to humor. Legend? I'll need to die to be that... I was thinking about that earlier, I've known Redouane for years, but even before... - before all that, the Vélodrome, etc. Actually, anywhere I went in Marseille, the guys knows you. Redouane’s custody One of the iconic figures of the neighborhood, I don't know which neighborhood you're from, Aurélien, but in every neighborhood, there's always a guy everybody knows, the funny guy that tells jokes, and I wasn't even doing shows. - And it was you? Yeah, I was already known for doing trash talk. Did you not perform in Marseille? At the beginning? I did, I did... But, I'm going to talk about it, in Bercy, I performed my first show in 2008. The day I was to perform, it was in December, the day of my show, I was in police custody. But, that's great, it fills the show then! Well no, because everybody had paid their ticket. Where is he? I was in Marseille, I'd done dumb stuff. We all did dumb stuff when we were young. You, I've no idea. But I'd done dumb stuff and the police caught me, the fraud squad, the day I was to perform... - The fraud squad? You've got to understand it was bank cards. Bank card, forged check One or the other. Cédric and the ingratitude of MMA And, Cédric, the man of the moment, how are you doing? He's laid back! - Well, to start off, I don't know if you know, I had a bit of trouble with my feet, foot injuries. Were you walking barefoot or what? So, what about you, how are you doing? All's good for me. My feet are doing fine. I set the record straight recently. That's life. He went in with a Dyson. What's more, you know, I've been thinking about you, football players, because my promoter, he said to me: "you know, I look after football players, tennis players, "you know, I look after football players, tennis players, other sports, other sports people, and boxing, it's the only sport where, when you lose, you're not the same athlete anymore". He's talking about managing, backstage, when you're pitching to brands, the fighter who just lost, a week or two ago, it's like they're not the same athlete, whereas the tennis player who loses a competition like Roland-Garros, it doesn't matter, it's still Rafael Nadal... but the fighter, the sport of fighting's so pitiless, that when you lose, it's as if people forget your whole career after that. It feels special to be here Because I've set the record straight. I've been vacuuming. He has just told us that he has lost all his contracts and, he's starting to recover, he's starting to breathe. You don't get it! He's saying: "I'm happy to be here, is there any way I can...?" No, I know he's hard at it, but he means that before losing, everybody's offering you a fortune, and, when you lose ONE fight in boxing, we don't want our image to be associated with your defeat. It's ONE defeat that calls everything into question. So, that means that a fighter's future is only based on victories. It's at stake with every fight. - Exactly. Your defeat, in quotes that was filled with controversy It wasn't a defeat, you know, that's the point. It was a defeat, on paper. It was a defeat, in quotes, you have to accept it, that's what makes you a great champion. Between us, it's not a defeat, we know that. - It doesn't change anything. True, it doesn't change anything. - It changes nothing. How did you take it mentally? Maybe you'd think: "it's going to taint my record" like by thinking, as a sports person, you know when you finish a match, you've lost or you haven't. In this case, you know you haven't lost. It's hard because you've got two different feelings. The first is like: "phew, I'm happy because I didn't get smashed, so I didn't lose." Then, after, you say: "people only remember that I lost". When it's written down: "Cédric - defeat" in the press. And, I didn't lose, it's actually an injustice. Samuel Eto'o and the golden ball That reminds me of one time, a great champion, a great football player, I don't know if you know him, he suffered an injustice, he should have been French Ballon d'Or but it was Cannavaro who won it instead. That was in 2006. - In 2006. We won't mention his name. How did you feel about that? - No. That wasn't the most important thing for me. I'd lost something that was much more important you know. For me, playing in the World Cup for Cameroon was a big challenge and we didn't meet it. And it was dramatic because it was at the last second. I don't know if you remember. I was about 5 or 6 years old. A story of penalties Yeah, we remember well Samuel, especially as Algeria lost against Cameroon, same thing, at the last second, we know, it hurts. Really hurts. - It hurts. What's more, you can lose, well, we were winning 3-0, but until I think the 72nd minute, we were winning, everything was great. Egypt was hardly playing at all. We'd gone to Côte d'Ivoire, we'd won in a really hard stage, with Drogba, Zokora and the others. We got ahead of Côte d'Ivoire and we'd reached the point where, normally, we should have win. We got caught up on the score, we had a penalty I think at the 94th or 95th minute. Who shot the penalty? - Wome. He miss It’s funny, because when I missed my penalty in the World Cup final one of the first people that called me was Samuel. And I've still got his voicemail where he tells me that it's all part of the game, that, of course, everybody would have loved me to score, except the Argentinians, of course, but that I mustn't let this episode define who I am as a player and I must forge ahead, not everybody would have plucked up the courage to go and shoot and that's all part of a football player's career. Did you miss penalties? - Of course, and let me tell you: I missed two penalties during a match... The same one? - Yep, the same match, Villareal, and I was supposed to be Pichichi And Forlan beat me by one goal. So, I missed two penalties in the same match. Incredible! Samuel, I wanted to ask you: when you're holding the ball in your hands, and you say: "I feel it", you can't refuse really, because you think: "if I refuse and I miss Ah yeah, that's... You've got this mental pressure. - But, it's to do with courage. I've always seen guys arriving, saying "I feel it", and often leave it when you're that player, when you come on the field, that's the difference between the great player and the good player: The difference between great and good player in every match, it's the great player who has to decide. The good player, maybe it's my day today. No! When I went on the field, I said to Ronaldinho: "today, I'm going to score two goals". Then you score three. Yeah, that happened and, let me tell you something: at Inter, once, I was supposed to come to Paris to party with friends and I said to Leonardo, who was my coach: "listen Leo, Linate (Milan's airport) closes at x o'clock, by the 45th minute, I'll have already scored three goals, so you're on your own. Defend well." 38th minute... - Who did you say that to? To Leo? Leo, he was my coach. Leo was my coach. I scored three. At half-time, he replaced me, I left and got my flight. Did it always depend on you? - No, not always. When I arrived back then, we had a team full of great players and, you know, there are loads of stars, big egos... but, even among you, great players, there are a few who have this doubt before the match, who mull things over, are apprehensive. But me, I wasn't like that. Never? - Never. The more important the match, the better I played. They'd all look at me like that, saying: "no way, this guy!" But, where'd it come from? From the trials I'd had in life. I'd gone through loads of hardships and, for me, each time, it was an opportunity vis-à-vis of the life I'd had before. I said to myself: "today, I've got to be the happiest man alive". Do you feel a bit like that too, Cédric, when you head into the cage? I explained that once on my social media, and it's valid for every sport, is that there are good sportspeople who are really, really strong, football players, boxers, tennis players who are really strong, and then there are champions. And, how can you know, distinguish between them? Well, basically, it's it's through the major events. World Cup final, Zidane who entices Panenka for the penalty, well, you know that that's a champion. And, I was there, in Berlin you know that there, that's a champion. I was there, outside the stadium. Were you touting tickets? - I was selling tickets. I swear, I was outside, I sold the two tickets. You guys from Marseille, you're champions. I swear, it's true. It's really interesting what you're saying about distinguishing... between champions and ordinary folks. It's when you know there's pressure, it's here, at its peak, and like Samuel says, the champion's the one who's going to succeed... there's pressure... - The champion can lose. Yep, but they're not scared of losing. A champion's never scared of losing. For them, they don't lose at all. They're not scared of losing or failing. They don't fail at all. What? They don't fail at all? You can fail at something... It's the mindset. When you head out onto a field, you know where you're at. But me, when I get on the field, I say to myself: "I can fail". I can fail. I don't even say to myself, I can fail for 89 minutes, but at the 90th minute, I'm going to work my magic. So, I don't fail, because what's my intention? It's to leave this field and hear people say "ah Eto'o was there." That's what a champion is. Whereas the other, when they've failed once or twice, you no longer see them, they start hiding, they don't want this ball, they stop calling out. No! You're going to fail because it's a game, you know, that's it. But, the most important, is at the end, people saying: "ah Redouane was there, he made us dream". People forget the 89 minutes... Where were you? - You weren't there. Let me give you another example, we took on Togo at home, we had to qualify for the World Cup, I think it was 2002. And, look at the attackers: Patrick Mboma, Samuel Eto'o. At a certain time, he was my best buddy. The flip-over, the upend he gave us here... Against France. - Yep. I arrived and I said to the guys: "listen, I didn't sleep well last night, etc. I don't feel great". Rigobert looked at me like this, and I said: "we've got to defend". We played well. And, at one point, I said to him: "Right now, let's start this party". I played on the left side, I'll show you the video, we did a high cross pass, I grounded the ball, the guy was just in front of me, but I didn't look at him, I looked straight behind him. I passed the ball to Jean II Makoun, I pretended I was going to move away, I opened up the space, he let the ball curve, when the ball was up, I started running. You celebrated even before it was in the goal. but you see, the feeling you're talking about there, Redouane and improvisation about scoring a goal that's that important at a key time like that, as a sports person, you can feel it at different times in a match, you, it could be a KO, for example, in your field, for example, how can you feel this sensation? You don't score a goal, you don't knock anyone out. Through improvisation. I'm well-known for doing impros. There are days where I feel like I've been blessed. Not every day? - No, not every day because it's never the same thing, it's never the same audience, the same people. You can't rehearse based on that. But once I was performing, and it wasn't being filmed. I arrived, I knew it was sold out, but there were four empty seats at the front. I thought: "something's wrong". Four people are missing, I performed, and the people arrived late. But, there weren't four, only three. They arrived and I said: "you're late but we let you in. Why are you late?" And they answered: "well, we've just left a funeral". I said: "wow". So, there were three of them, but four empty seats. "Don't tell me that it's..." "No, no, not at all". And, I said : "what sort of people are you who go to a funeral then a comedy show? What are your agendas, in your lives? Maybe the deceased's looking at you from up high there, laughing..." But that's stuff, that's not prepared. And, you're like blessed and everyone laughs. Same thing, I was performing, and there was a lady in the front row, so I said "hello", and she didn't answer. I said: "Are you okay?" she didn't speak. And, right then, her husband said: "she has tongue cancer, that started 6 months ago, so she can't talk". Yeah, like you can feel the "oh". Just imagine a venue with 3,000 people, they're there to laugh, and they hear "cancer, etc. etc.". No, bro, they're not laughing. So, you have to bounce back on that. What did you say? - I said: "Ms, are you a fan of Latin? coz Latin's an unspoken language". So I kept going. You're laughing, the audience laughed, she laughed. Actually, she couldn't laugh. You're a smartass. - But you have to be, it means you've got one second to reply and that's the difference between an amateur and a professional, and the same goes for football, it's the speed of action-reaction. You take an amateur, you tell them: "control the ball", and they'll control the ball. That's how you see things actually. The difference with a professional is that they haven't even grounded the ball but they're thinking: "I'm going to kick it over there, I've checked it all out, this one is on his own in the gap”... You look at the pros, you don't even need to say "go on, make a pass" that he's already made a pass. I've got a bridge that we can make between you three, and that's from what you've said, there's a bit of trash talking with the audience, the people in the first row. You Samuel, of course we know you for the player you were, but we also know you for being up-front. Now, of course if we talk about the king of trash talk, I believe you're one of the best. I'd like to know, and you can take the floor one after the other, at what point you reckon you may be going over the limit in what you say? Redouane, you can start us off on that. Because, hold on, you sometimes go well over the limit. I go over the limit, but these guys, they've got the camera not people in front of them. I look at people's faces, to see if they're tense or not. I'm going to make jokes about Samuel, if I can see in his face that I've gone over the limit, I backtrack and I never go beyond, it's always done with kindness. I've a feeling Samuel's face, has been tense since the start? No, Samuel's never tense. Look, he's laughing, but... He's the only pro football player who stopped his career, he was happy to stop. He scored more goals than he should have done. He had a goal quota, but went way beyond it, so he said: "right, that's done, let's move on". The aim is, I've got people, I see them. So, I know you've paid to come and see me, so I'm not going to offend you. The aim of the game isn't... - It's that we have a great time. Because you've worked hard, you bought your tickets in advance, you say: "I'm going to have a great time", and not for me to humiliate you. So, the people who come to see me, we're in league together. I've had comments people who've told me: "you didn't go far enough, we came to see you, we were in the front row, we know you well, but you went easy". When you know that they pay crazy amounts... they pay fortunes, but I don't go beyond the limit because I know that you've come to see a show, you're in the front row, you're grateful, you're happy, you want to laugh and you can't go beyond limits, because... But, that's the difference between Cédric and Samuel, when Samuel's being up-front he speaks the truth like you, we said earlier on, and as Cédric's into trash talking... You, trash talking, I saw him fling a tracksuit at a guy. The guy had a tracksuit from a certain brand, he arrived with the same tracksuit, he flung it at him! But the difference is that his opponents don't choose that. You tell us: "your audience, they choose". His opponents don't choose. The guy who trash talks, he's here to do his fight, he's serious, he's understood, it was Muhammad Ali who started that, to get inside guys' minds, he knows that... Ah, Ryan Garcia who did it not so long ago with Haney you know, they know that they can outwit their opponent mentally. Even him, he probably talks to his opponents. I'm sure that he does. Did you talk to your opponents, Samuel? Yeah, it happened... In the 2006 final. Did you talk? Exactly. My little brother Eboué who was against me and, we were laughing, but, his play was so good, he was focused, that I said to myself: "he's so focused he's going to make a mistake" because he was thinking: "that's my big brother in front of me". So we chatted. What's more, he'd taken the lead. "You've got to give me your jersey..." During the match? - Yeah, in Abidjan, he's a real joker. His play was so good. But, it just took me one second, and I equalized. He didn't want the jersey after that. But, getting back to your question. I'd like to say: I've come a long way, beyond the fact that I've had a successful career, I have to create opportunities for others Eto'o and Ibra and, above all, show the other Africans that they don't have to have hang-ups. I'm going to give you an example. There was a great player one time, Ibra. He said: "we should change the Eiffel Tower and put my face". He said something like that. To put my nose. That's a guy from Marseille saying that. Nobody was shocked. What if it had been a black guy... But, every time I said something true, people said: "He's a real show-off!" That's right. - Do you get it? Why should I feel inferior? Yet I was better than the others. That's right. You, Cédric, we'll come back to that because it's really interesting, because he's the king of trash talk. Cedric went too far? No, he is. Have you ever felt that you've gone too far? Have I ever felt that I've gone too far? Even when your opponents say afterwards: "yeah, he's gone too far, I'm being hounded, etc." Just once, unintentionally. Unintentionally? Politically correct! Unknowingly. No, unintentionally, I felt that, it wasn't that I'd gone too far, people didn't get it. basically, I'd talked about a fighter's sister, but not to slam his sister as such. It was because, I'll give you the story in short, I'd said that I'd knock him out in the 2nd round. I knocked him to the ground in the 1st round, to the ground in the 2nd round, he kept going and I won on points, so I didn't knock him out in the end. And someone said: "you said you'd knock him out". I said: "his sister sent me a message, "don't KO my brother", etc." Everyone was laughing, but he took it really badly. But it wasn't to slam his sister as such, it was because, back then, his sister was his No.1 fan, she was really active on social media encouraging him and all - And, she was also in the system. She was in the game. And I just said that to say: "his No.1 fan told me not to knock him out". And, it didn't go down well and that's when I understood that I'm the only one who knows what I mean, what I imply. So, I have to be careful about everything I say, but going too far, I've never felt I've gone too far, I've always set myself limits. I always show empathy, I don't do to people what I wouldn't want them to do to me. It sounds crazy what you're saying because when we hear everything you go on about. I never talk about the family. - That's important. For me, it has to stay, in any case, within the sporting sphere. I never talk about family. Me, I talk about family. - I'm a Cameroonian. I'm a Cameroonian and that means I'm obliged to “fala” you. (taunt) I'm obliged to... - We were talking about this with my parents, and I said "why do Cameroonians, we have a mouth like this?" We grew up this way. We grew up this way. When I was little, people would make fun of me all the time. It's like in the neighborhood, you're sitting there, people make fun of you, then it's your turn to do the same. Like the saying goes, you take it in turns at the barber's. Look, we're the best in everything. We've got the best players in the world today. Follow my lead. I don't want to, I want to go back to Cameroon. That's it, but when it comes to going too far... I'm lucky in my sport as I'm, in quotes, my own boss. Football players, I know there's pressure from the federation, a bit less, but great pressure from the club. It's rare. The only one I knew, who was like that during his career, was Zlatan, and Samuel maybe a bit after his career, he let go more and more, but I've never seen a football player saying "yes, I'm the best". or: "how are you feeling about the match?". Football players always say the same thing, "It's the team". Because football's also a team sport. So what! If it was a team sport, then we'd all have the same wages. Because, if you earn 10 times more than the other, then it's not that much of a team sport at all. You're more important. - More important. I'm going back to a question, Samuel, because earlier on Cédric pinpointed something, 2006, the Ballon d'Or, do you believe that, without pussyfooting around, at one time or another, you deserved the Ballon d'Or after everything you'd done? I don't know if I deserved the Ballon d'Or, The 2002 World Cup but, let me tell you, that year I'd won almost everything and my dream was to take part in that World Cup. I wasn't thinking about the Ballon d'Or. I'd say to myself: "I'm getting there, I've been at the top of my game for some years now..." Let's head for the World Cup, we had a brilliant team. You thought you'd go to the World Cup and kick ass. Yeah, we started off the competition badly, we made a comeback, we went to Abidjan, we won against Côte d'Ivoire in Cameroon, a really mad match. I remember, brawls all week long with the Cameroonian supporters, it was crazy, you had Didier (Drogba) against you. - Ah yeah. It was, really thrilling, I remember, I arrived in the locker room like that, then I said to Rigobert: "listen, Didier's a great player, okay, but I'm the boss". What I'm saying, you see? But me, I believed it. But when I said it, anyone else who was listening to me, thought: "but he's crazy". Because he doesn't have the same level of trust that you have. He said: "But he's got Drogba against him!" And I came on the field and worked my magic. Do you think that's the mindset Cédric should have in the cage? It's really that. When I came on the field, I'd already mentally won all these boys. You phoned me before a cup final, I phoned him to ask him for some advice, the 1st thing he said to me was: "it doesn't matter which match you're playing, or against who you're playing, when you get out on the field, you need to be the best player on the field in your mind, it doesn't matter what happened the day before, or what happens between the 10th and the 20th, you have to keep thinking that you're the best on the field. When I came on, we won 2-0. But Jérémy did a high cross pass, before the ball hit the ground,, left-foot volley, opposite top corner goal. They all stopped. The second goal, I dribbled them with my eyes. I did this, and they all passed by. A little ball, but actually... It's your mindset. - It's the champion's mindset. But, for the others, because it's an African that said it, they said: "he's crazy". - "he's crazy". He's big-headed. On the other hand, when Zlatan said something they said: "he's great!" - It's art. People also said he was big-headed or a bit of a character. Not big-headed, but a great champion. Zlatan's a great champion. Everything he said, he did. What we'd often hear was when Zlatan would say: "I'm the best" or he'd be walking past journalists, and he'd say: "my name should be there". People would laugh, "that's Zlatan all over!" There you go, he's a character. - Exactly, he's a character. Did you hear what Ludovic Giuly said? The Eto’o-Ronaldinho clash No. - Do you remember, in 2006? Champions League final, here in Paris, Stade de France. At half-time, we were trailing 1-0 and Arsenal was only fielding 10. Do you know why we were trailing? Ronaldinho, best player, wanted to play it solo. That's where you see the great player. Were you scared of saying to Ronaldinho: "are you kidding me"? *Tchiiiiip* You're asking a Cameroonian, let me tell you. Did you ever say to Ronaldinho: "are you kidding me"? I walked into the locker room, and everybody was like this, at half-time. Champions League final. Ah yeah, no! Frank (Rijkaard), he was over on the other side, lost. Frank who'd played several Champions League, and had won some. I said "what are you doing? Get up! I'm going to score". Don't worry! - "We're going back out, I'm going to score. Hold on, I'm still here. What are you scared of?" I said: "but Roni, either you play with us, or you go sit on the sidelines". And, that's where you see the great player. He got us together and said: "I'm sorry". Roni? - Ah that's wonderful. It was because he knew. - Do you see the mindset? Because he was going back out, you know what it's like, Champions League final, everybody watches it. He wanted to stand out, to be the best because he already was the best. He was the best, Samuel Eto'o believed he was the best, I wanted to be the best too, but I had to understand that... You were in a team. That's right, he accepted, we went back out and I scored. And Giuly said: "when Samuel scored, I said, we're going to win because he said he was going to score". Do you see the way it plays around mentally in your mind? I understand that to achieve your goals, you have to have this mindset, but, for me, looking in from the outside, I'm thinking about Redouane, Cédric, Fear and stress like Francis said you hit people to make your living. That means, when you get on the ring before a fight, aren't you ever scared: "who knows, that guy might annihilate me"? I'm going to add something if I may. How do you manage to fight each other? You don’t have any problems with the guy That's the best question! I swear I was scared for him. He's not a guy from my family but I swear I was scared for you. When? - When he won in 9 seconds. Before the fight, I saw the weigh-in, I saw Jordan, I saw this beefy guy, beefy, I saw him, good diet ate well, trained well. And, your man here had been insulting him for months. And, I thought: "he's going to rip him apart". I swear, I was scared. I was performing, I was invited, I came out to watch the thing, I was scared, I saw the weigh-in, the guy opposite, you'd be thinking: "alright, it's over, he's going to rip him apart". Him here, he spoke out, us, we were going to be ashamed, but it was because it was us, we were scared for you. If I didn't know you, I wouldn't care. I did know you, and I thought: "he's going to be ripped apart, the other guy's 20 years old". You know, him here, he was 30, our bro, he was near the end. The other guy was young, he was going to smash him. - He was starving. I didn't get it. - My mother felt the same way. Because you know, everybody who knows me, and like he says, there are two factors: there's concern. You know the fighter, so you love him, you don't want him to lose. Secondly, he said too much, so basically, you're thinking: "if it was a fight that was just like that, under the radar, and he lost, the important thing is to have taken part, okay". But no, this guy has talked and talked, so he has to assume it all. Then of course there's the physical aspect, when you see a fighter with pectorals and abs, beefy you think: "it's going to be hard". Before I forget something, there's a thing I want to mention, when Samuel talks, imagine yourself now, you're in the locker room, or with your team, to make the bridge between our respective disciplines, in our team, there's a guy who says: "don't worry, we're not going to lose". Imagine. - That boosts you mentally. That's Real Madrid's DNA. Even the last Champions League final, we played a cataclysmic first half, Real Madrid DNA we went back to the locker room, looked at each other and said: "hey guys, we can't play any worse than what we've just played. We're going to win". But, you could feel it, even as a spectator. I was at the stadium with you in Dortmund. You were still selling tickets? - No, I was inside! This time, I managed bro. I was in the stadium, in Dortmund, there was a fast break, the other guy, he headed off on his own, empty goal with the goalkeeper, he hit the posts, I said: "Madrid's going to win". Seriously though, Madrid today, me, objectively speaking, when I see, you've got the impression that, mentally, everything you've said Samuel, everything you've said Cédric, mentally, you've got the upper hand over all your opponents. There's mental pressure like you're crushing your opponents. And we feel it. So, Madrid didn't buy you? No, they didn't. Back then, Madrid had another policy, superstars... Galacticos. - Galacticos. I was a young guy, starting out, I had a lot of talent, a lot of desire, but it was the project. You could be a really good player, but they wouldn't take you on. It was the project, how the club saw itself in two, three, four years' time... Why didn't they take you on after Barcelona? They'd already got Figo. Yeah, but... did I want to go back? It was already too much. No, it was over and, what's more, when we arrived in Barcelona, we were a group of buddies, real friends. We did everything together. When we played we had great fun. We were friends spending time together. And, you know what it's like when you're buddies, you don't feel that. We won our first Champions League, there were injuries, we played, we had 12 players. 12 players! That season in Madrid was like that too. 12 players, but we won because we were united, like that. We were there, we played, we had fun. Physically, we were all well into it. Exactly, as sportspeople, we've got a group, Fear and stress (2) the group that you've got in your respective fields is different. You're on your own in the cage. - I'm on my own. His team, not the same thing, he's a magician, you see his team. To bounce back to what we were saying earlier on, when I talked about fear of losing or something along those lines, I meant, it's you against your opponent. That's what I wanted to build on, bounce back to, when you're in the locker room and you've got a guy like Samuel, catastrophic first half and you've got a guy like Samuel who gets up and says: "hey guys, we're not going to lose", looking you straight in the eye, well that gets rid of 80% of your stress, your doubt, everything. It's like when you're told you've got cancer, you know cancer kills, the doctor who's looking after you says: "don't worry sir, I'm going to sort it". You don't know what they're going to do, but you're already thinking: "wow, that's good, I believe it". You've got someone who you can rely on, you trust them. And, that's what a leader is. Every time I fight, I'm scared of losing, even great champions, can be scared. I don't know if you agree with me. It's the fear that means that on the field, in the cage, you're going to perform great. If we really want to look at what fear, stress is, your hands are clammy, your heartbeat speeds up, those are all actually animal reflexes. It's instinct. - Animal instinct. Why does your pulse race? So that all your organs are supplied, so they've got blood and are ready to react. Why do your hands get clammy? Why do your pupils dilate? So that you're there, so you can see the predator coming at you. They're all animal instincts. So, you've got to have this stress, all these instincts need to be triggered so you can perform great. If you don't have fear, stress, the day's going to be like any other you're going to come on, you're going to take a straight right because the guy facing you is stressed, the guy facing you has got pressure... It goes hand in hand with the challenge. Then, managing stress, that's what makes the champion, the difference between the champion and the guy who's really good in the club. I wanted to bounce back on that, Cédric. I wasn't stressed however, I swear. Because you're the predator. It's him! Him who can attack me! He's stressed because he's scared of dying. I was focused, in my element. - Your definition of stress? I'm going to tell you... - Have you never been stressed in your life? Yes, today. - In competition? Today, given my role, I'm stressed because it's out of my hands. My job, my pressure, is to do everything to make sure the players are fine. My pressure is to make sure they travel in the best conditions, sleep in the best conditions, that there's no issues with bonuses, coordinate all the teams then after, it's not up to me, it's up to their coach, it's up to the guys. So, I'm often in the stands as the President, but I lose 2 kg, I sweat because it's out of my hands. Didn't you have, this stress when you were a player? When I was playing, no, because it was in my hands. I arrived in the locker room, do you know Koffi Olomide? My faithful companion. A wonderful artist. - I had my bible... "The Lord's My Shepherd, I shall not want". I prayed, I started getting ready, I had 50 minutes before it was time to go, and I did the same thing all the time. The same thing, I'd get ready, I'd go do the warm-up, I'd come back, and I'd always be the last to speak. "Hey guys, no, don't worry, I'm going to score before the 10th minute". Talking about that, Samuel, was there an opponent in your career that you knew you were going to have problems with? A defender who caused problems Yeah, there was... - You don't want to give us his name? I'm going to give you the name. Cannavaro, who was really fast and who adored anticipating. Did he stress you out before matches? No, no stress. I'd re-adapt and play another way. I knew he loved anticipating. For the first four or five balls, I'd be the Samuel Eto'o that he had seen, the videos and all that, and then I'd change. So, there was already a problem, he had to adapt to my game now. I started to play 3/4, I was no longer playing back to the goal, so he had this stress now as he was thinking: "but hey, the guy..." - That's adapting. That's adapting. Afterwards, I had guys like Rigobert Song who I never wanted to have as an opponent during a match because the guy, during training, he'd kick your butt, walk all over you, insult you, he'd put you in conditions where you'd say: "but we're only training". That's pretty funny actually. Redouane, you, for example, Do you have an anecdote about stress before a show? Listen, I'm never stressed. Before getting on stage, I tell jokes on FaceTime, Redouane is chill I call my mum, buddies. The first part, I tell jokes. But, not so long ago, I was stressed, I'd come to see you against Luxembourg in Metz, French national team, yeah, I was in the stadium, and they said: "there are 24,000 of you here tonight. Saint-Symphorien Stadium, 24,000. And, I said to myself: "Redouane, in 10 days' time, you're performing in the Vélodrome, and they're 30,000". 6,000 more. And, I was like visualizing this, and I panicked, I was going to perform and there was going to be at least 30,000 people. For one person. - For one person. So I had a little panic attack... Seriously? - Yeah, I swear. I said to myself: "oh, what's happening bro? You're alright man." Here, this is a theater, look, Mogador, how many? 1,500? 1,200? 1,400? It's a human scale. - You're in control, you see the people. The guy, even up there in the last row I can see his head, I can get a grasp on him. But you have to embrace this moment. Yeah, but it's only once in a lifetime. You say to yourself: "I'm going to do a stadium, I'm on my own". They're 11 versus 11. You're 11 versus 11. You play, you tell yourself: "even if I'm tired, there's someone there to back me up". It doesn't work like that, you don't look out, you think that it's you, the team... But it's you. Because it's your responsibility. But, at a point in time, you're tired, you told us, when you were in the national team, you said: "hey boys, I'm tired..." After, you got boosted up... - No, it was something else, It was that I hadn't had a good night, I arrived in the locker room, everybody was looking at me, they knew, there was Samuel. Eto'o party But I was honest enough to say to the guys: "listen, I had a bad night, so keep it together". That's what it was, we had a great team. And the guys all understood. I was walking, even the coach, he let me be, but at a certain point, we went back to the locker room, and I said to the guys: "listen up, in the next 10 minutes, you know what's going to happen". And, I saw the guys' eyes shining because they knew that what I'd said, I'd do. I did it. And Rigobert Song, who was our captain, he went: "oh là là là là... here, no-one gets through". So, the others got more confidence and I scored. That changes everything. Mentally, we had the upper hand. We played in Abidjan against Côte d'Ivoire. What a Côte d'Ivoire team! What a team, Arouna Koné, Didier Drogba, Zokora, etc. etc. And we had an old player, a senior, Raymond Kalla, You, you know “Baresi”. He had retired but still played, but retired internationally. We had a young guy who was good, but we had a few doubts about this match, it was a match that was a pressure for the others, those who don't know how to control it. We had to reach the World Cup. We had to beat Côte d'Ivoire and in Abidjan, but with what team? The coach who was consulting with us, the senior players went to see him and said: "there's a guy Kalla, Raymond Kalla". What, him there! We said: "no, you've got to call him". So he asked the player to come. The Ivoirians didn't expect to see Raymond Kalla. The guy's almost 2 meters tall, so, when we came out, they were all staring like this. They didn't know him? - They did, they knew the guy. They knew he was an assassin. So, that has an effect, mentally. And, what we often call "hemle" (fighting spirit), I mean, us Cameroonians, we've always had something even when it's hard, we say: "it's possible". And, that's what I always try and say to the guys. I want a player who's strong willed. It doesn't matter if you insult me, if you get results, that's what I want. But, I don't want you to mess around and not give us results we expect you to give, because the strong-willed guy, he's the one who's going to take the team further. You have to spur him on so that he'll do it because in a group, you see followers, then, you're going to have two or three who are natural leaders and you have to accompany these leaders so that they steer the group well. But, at the same time, you mustn't do anything that's going to affect the group. That's what we were saying earlier on, even for Cédric, you talk, you talk a lot, but do you say to yourself if you lose, how are you going to cope with that? No, that's why I don't lose, because I've no desire to deal with that. Well, technically-speaking, you lost not so long ago. No, but do you ask yourself this question sometimes? Of course, that's why I don't want to lose. And, where does this trash talk come from? Because, let's remember, there's a risk there too, we're talking about trash talk, about stress, and about challenge, taking risks, The transition to MMA you changed sport, before you were in kickboxing, you also assume your trash talk in a new discipline. Actually, it's the same mindset. I was already the boss in kickboxing, winning everything, etc. but kickboxing wasn't on the same scale as MMA today. It wasn't in the light like it is today. - Didn't have the light it deserved, and when I saw MMA, and I saw Conor McGregor, all these fighters, I said, "oh, I can do that, but I'm better than them". And, what's more... - You said to yourself you were better than them? Of course, what's more, I've my character. Because, what exactly, is MMA? You're standing, and after you learn a bit on the ground too, and you handle it, even if, now it's loosely defined, it's really comprehensive, it's a fully-fledged discipline, but me, I told myself basically that I shouldn't hit the ground, and nobody could stay standing with me. Nobody who... - Nobody wanted to test me. That's the mindset. I told myself: "I've covered it. I'm going to show them I'm the boss in MMA, and I've just got to take the same route I took in kickboxing, saying exactly the same thing, “I'm the best, i’m the best, .....". At the start, it's always the same thing, "who's he?" "You're the best in what? But, you've done nothing, you're nobody". One KO, two KOs, three KOs, four KOs, always announced. 1st round, 1st round, people began to understand who the boss really was. It's true there's pressure like Samuel says, he, himself, didn't feel any pressure maybe because he was kicking the ball, but us fighters, there are some who died in the cage, fighters who died trying to lose weight, it's dangerous all the same. You're still going to be fighting, and the question pops up again: how do you manage to fight each other? You don’t have a beef, you come on, and you start hitting each other. I don't understand, how can you fight with someone you've no problems with. Do you get pleasure out of fighting? - I get pleasure during training. But you don't get pleasure out of beating someone up? I don't get any pleasure, during the fight, it would be lying to say... - So, why do you do it? Actually, there's no pleasure because of the stress, I'm too focused to get pleasure out of it. I feel pleasure the very second I win, the referee stops the fight and that's when I start to enjoy it. But during and before... - You're lying. I'm not, before, when I was there, that precise fight I'll remember it my whole life, when I was there, the referee called me so it could begin, and I said: "hold on". Right then, I wasn't enjoying it, I was already in my fight, focused, I was working, it's a show. I said I'd do it, so I did it. Mentally-speaking, it affects your opponent. Ah no, it killed him. Even afterwards, I'm going back to what I said earlier on about did you go too far, etc. He said afterwards that you'd gone too far, etc. Do you think he played a bit with that actually to... because I find that what you said, after, you gave him strength. I didn't go too far. You gave him money too. For that fight... - He'd placed products, he'd taken followers and all. What he says though isn't true. He had a team with him who put ideas in his head. But no, the trash talk was brilliant, perfectly executed. "Jordan, you're dead. Mattress, pillow, goodnight, Jordan. Boom, KO." There was nothing to say. - It was marketing. There's the fight, but there's also marketing. That's right, and it's all natural, what I mean is, there aren't four of us around the table, "what can we do?" No. It all comes naturally. "Goodnight Jordan. The mattress, it comes like that". Magician. There's a Cameroonian magician... - A bearded guy... A bearded guy, imam sparring partner. He's got a team, really out of the league. We don't have a team. I want to bounce back on what he said. Eto'o should have signed for Arsenal I was to sign for Arsenal when I was with Majorca. But, in the end, the coach, Arsène Wenger, decided to choose Reyes, may he rest in peace. And, those around me were shocked and worried. I said: "hold on, I'm the best". Anyway, Arsenal was small for me. Too small. Even when you were in Majorca, you thought that? In fact, I thought I was better than everyone else. You had so much ambition. - Right from beginning. For those around me, Arsenal, was the best. Thierry Henry, and all. I said: "but no". Just to butt in, it's funny. When I was about 12 years old, I was talking to my father, I've got an anecdote, we were in the car, we were talking about football players, about what I wanted to do, and I said to him: "dad, when I see these guys, one day I'm going to be there too". and he answered: "what are you going on about? You're young. Wait, take it easy". And, I said: "I'm going to play in the best clubs in the world, we'll talk about it later". And, last time, we won the Champions League, and that was really the first time that... You said "last time"... - They win every year! But it really was the first time and this recognition, it was the first time where I really saw my father and where I said to myself: "yessss, I've done something", because seeing him lifting up the trophy, I thought: "yessss, now that's something". Samuel, I've got anecdotes of Barça before with Romario, the Brazilian. He had a deal with the coaches. "I score..." - He went to Brazil. "I'm off to Brazil at half-time, I'm catching the last flight". Did you have the same deal? - No, I didn't have a deal, but back in the days, it was different. It was different. We could talk things over with the coach. they ruined the Ferrari When I mention maybe the kid who arrived with his Ferrari 360 Modena, and we wrecked his car... - Who was the kid? We're not mentioning names. With 20 miles on the clock... - You wrecked the kid's car? - Yes because we saw things differently. Yeah, you're Ronaldinho, you're Eto'o. Today, it's different. Because the guy... - Hold on, he didn't get it. The guy was 19 years old, he was playing his match and he turned up to training in a brand new Ferrari. - Lack of respect. You're mad, you're never going to make it. You come in a Fiat Tipo. But it was also an opportunity for the kid. Actually, you took it like he was annoying you. No, no, no, when you arrive, in a club like Barcelona, or Inter Milan. - You start at base level. There's hierarchy, you can't arrive and talk to Zanetti as if you were talking to your buddy. All the kids who arrive need to know: "Okay, I'm going to climb the ladder slowly. I don't need to come here with..." Look, Leo Messi, best player in the world for us, but Leo was always a guy... Why? Because he arrived in a club that was like family, there were seniors, and you climbed, you moved up the rungs. It's like that. So, when the guy arrived, he had his Ferrari, and we said: "welcome, but you won't be leaving with your car." We wrecked it. We wrecked it. Ahhhh, the handsome guy ! Entry from Mike Maignan How you doing? - Cool. All good? Yeah. Mike Maignan. - All good or what? You well? - Yeah. Are you going to sit with us or are you just making a quick appearance? Yeah, I'm staying. - Cool. What you were saying was interesting. Well thank you for being with us. Pleasure. He came in via the blind spots, I didn't see him coming. You thought it was somebody who was coming to tackle you. He arrived on edge. - He loves boxing a lot. Every time, we head off to L.A. etc. on vacation, we've got different types of cardio and all, but he loves boxing a lot, so maybe one day you could... Have you already been to one of his fights? No, I haven't. Knowing the "Mike", you're dead! How much do you weigh? About... - 95. That's what I was going to say, 90-95. He's already starting to test you there... He's sussing you to see if.. I'm going for the liver there because... To each his own. - But, let's get back to a thing because for a while, we've only been talking about mindsets, etc. we've been talking about team sports and all and also about competition, you Redouane, how do you handle this? Is there competition in stand-up comedy? Are there people it works well with? We know there are people it doesn't work well with, but is there also a sort of: "alright, I'm going to do better than you"? "I've got him in the rearview, I've got to..." Well, I've got an artistic family, you know it, I've got Roman, you see, then there's Gad, there's Nino, there's Ahmed, there's Timo, I've a team of friends. What's great is that we don't do the same thing. You know, Roman, he's really poetic, really artistic, he plays on double, triple, quadruple meanings, Me, I head straight in. - You go for "hagra", debasing. Yeah, I go for "hagra", punchline, direct, one to one, face to face, we look each other straight in the eye even if he weighs 95, we're going to hit on Mike, we're not going to spare him, we're going to try to shoot him, top goal. We've known each other for years. When Roman arrived from Canada, we clicked straight away, he made it big before me and he got me into Canal Plus TV, He told me: "Redouane, I don't understand why you're not known, we do shows, you're funny". He took me with him, the people from Canal Plus who we know were shocked, we're not going to give names, "Yeah, but this guy's crazy! He's going to say some crazy things, he's going to shock everyone, we can't do it." Roman: "no, let him do it, I trust him". So, Roman, he brought me in, so there's no sort of competition, what's more, it was a brotherly thing, where we helped each other so we'd succeed. But, it's true I know there are those who said: "I don't understand why he's here, what does he do?" There's no competition, what we do is for the audience. You're going to go see a show, you enjoyed it, so you go and see another show. You're not just going to go see Redouane's shows. You enjoy comedy, so you'll go see everything you can, so in the end it's the audience that decides. There's no competition, Aurélien, you love an artist, you won't just go and see that artist and for the others, you say no, I'm not going to see them. I love boxing, I love MMA, I'll go watch Cédric, I'll go watch other fighters, see what's going on. But comedy's special, it's a small world all the same. A really small world, Same goes for football, there are dirty tricks everywhere, that's rivalry. Beyond competition, there's sometimes a thing that's unhealthy. There are groups, same as for you in football, in the team and you even have it during selection, there's friends. No, there's affinity, but you've got to distinguish between affinity and clans. It's different. - Clans. Clans are toxic. There's affinity, but you mustn't accept clans. You know where you see this? When they're taking breakfast in the morning or how the guys are sitting around. You see, shit, you've got guys, the ones who are in such and such a team, the ones in such a group. The ones who were in the training center together, you spent 7 years with a guy, you played with him, you meet him again during selections, you know that when you're going to have to make a choice for a pass, and the ball's sent to him instead of to the right. I saw that in a match, when you were playing in Metz, there was a point in time it could have gone to the right, but it was given to Kylian, bro, whereas in the game, it should be given to the right. But you can't blame them, because there's this affinity, but, let me tell you the truth, I've never been in competition with anyone. I've been in competition with myself. "Redouane, you've got to be better than yourself. You made people laugh today, tomorrow you must make them laugh even more." And I try to push myself, to motivate myself, because if I look at people, it's me that's going to be in the rearview. - So, it's all up to you. It's weird that you say that because I know Mike really well, and I know that you've got this mindset, which you've always had, or at least which you've got now, and, I'd like to know where this mindset comes from where it's up to you in how you prepare, always making sure you're the best you can be. Well, actually, for me, it's all up to you. It's all up to you even if we're used to saying that football is a team sport, in the end, it's up to you, because when you mess a match up, or when you mess something up, you're not performing as you should be. Who can you blame ? You're not going to start looking for excuses saying things like: "yeah, my teammate wasn't that good, he didn't cover the first post for me, he didn't do this, he didn't do that". If you do all you can to succeed and you don't succeed, you're going to keep asking yourself questions so you can go further... - And continue to go further. Exactly, to find that extra something, to progress, to keep moving forward. And, I think that this mindset, whether it's in comedy, in everything you do in your life, like Redouane said, it's you versus you. You get up every morning, you have to meet your objectives, your goals, and move forward because if you wait for someone to push you, to do it for you, nobody will do it. I'd like to bounce back, you say: "it's you versus you". Do you ever lose against yourself? Yeah, it happens, I do. But, that's life lessons. Mike's fight I learn from the lessons... But, at what point do you say: "I wasn't at my best there, I wasn't..." Well, this season, for those who followed AC Milan a bit, this season, I found that I'd lost the fight against myself because my fight is to stay focused on what I'm good at, on myself, and not get wrapped up in everything that's going on around me. And what you can control. - Exactly. And I fought bad fights. The battle I had to fought, I didn't, so, I knew I'd lost that fight, so, what I'm going to do now, as I already mentioned, is that, now, I'm going to learn from all that, to make a strong comeback next season. That ties in with everything we were saying earlier on. Once again, it's mindset, because having the hindsight required to say to yourself: "I lost the fight, but I won't lose the next one, I know where I made mistakes, in quotes. You stay focused on the next action. - Well, that's a champion's mindset for me. Samuel, I don't know what you think but, for me, that's the right mindset. But me, I had another question, because, a goalkeeper's position is a pretty special one. It's another discipline. - Something different. It's a match in a match. That ties in a lot with Cédric, basically. They're on their own. And, it's a cage as well. - And, let me tell you... Haha, he wants the fight. That's what we were saying earlier on, when you said: "but you can't be good all the time", because me, as a center-forward, for 89 minutes, I do practically nothing. 90th minute, magic. And everyone remembers. Whereas he gives it his all for 89 minutes. 90th minute, hand mistake, goal, and we forget everything else. The mindset you have, because you're a bit crazy, if you permit, I've known goalkeepers, they're strange people, they're special, set apart. How do you forge this mindset? You said a word that's important, and that's "crazy". If you're not crazy, you don't have this mindset, you can't be a goalkeeper. All high-level goalkeepers today, and we're talking about really high level, have to be crazy and have a strong mindset. Otherwise, it won't work. It's hard to see a goalkeeper today who doesn't have all that being at a high level, because he's automatically walked all over by his teammates, by pressure, by mistakes, even though everybody makes mistakes, but, the most important thing is what you do afterwards. The error So, who's your reference when it comes to goalkeepers? My reference when it comes to goalkeepers... Throughout history. - Throughout all of history? Honestly speaking, I'm not going to go back too far, I like Neuer a lot. Yeah, Neuer, he's a hit man, He really shook up the role. Has he ever, been lobbed? But, even to say, a guy like Neuer makes mistakes. You know, recently against Madrid, Aurélien can tell you, he made a mistake, but that doesn't take away everything he changed, because we all make mistakes, but how do you bounce back after that? And, I think, that even if he's near the end, his mistake, for young goalkeepers like me, and others who're even younger, will be useful for us, we'll say: "even the best make mistakes". So that'll boost us even more to continue in spite of our mistake. Only the best make mistakes. If you're not the best, you don't take risks. Exactly. - That's what I told Aurélien when he missed his penalty during the World Cup. We'd forgotten about his penalty. - You've got to be a man. Because the others are scared, they hide away, but you've got to have that personality. How was it done for the World Cup? Was there a list? Or, "Who wants to shoot?" "Me, me". Well, the list actually, it depends, because you can't really draw up a list, because, at the end of the day, it's after the overtime, so, there are loads of things to take into account. Somebody may be injured, he may be tired, he doesn't feel he can make the shot. You can be good in training, you shoot all the time, you score. It's like you, you can be good sparring, but in the cage... What counts is the precise moment, the given moment. But, were you feeling it? - In relation to what? The penalty, when you take it, do you feel it? Yeah, because there are loads of things to take into account, there's the match, World Cup final, it's the “biggest stage” as we say, when I was a kid, my mother could say something to me, and I'd say: "no worries, it's not the World Cup final". And there, you're at a point in time and you live for those points in time. I'd find it hard to look at myself in a mirror the next day or even the same day, saying to myself: "you didn't shoot because you were scared". Do you see what I mean? No, no, no... Like you said, we shouldn't feel this fear. You go, you do what you have to do, it works, great, it doesn't work, it'll piss me, it'll piss me for my whole life, but it's part of my history. Baggio, same thing. - Yeah. What I mean is, he lived with it and he's still one of the greatest players in the world. What's the biggest failure in your life? Me, it was in Holland. It was at a time when I was really into it. In kickboxing? - Yeah. Oh, I thought it was the splinter You're talking about a failure, right? - Yeah. Yeah, okay, if you want, in my career I've always been alone. Like you see it today, magician, whatever, in my team. You come see my team and you say: "that's not a high-level fighter's staff". I've always started on my own. At the start, I had a trainer who taught me how to box. Then we went our separate ways, because, basically, he didn't have his license, so for training it was complicated, and he stopped the training sessions, and told me: "go to this place, they'll look after you well". But, in the end, I grabbed my backpack, and headed off to Holland. I went to Holland to train, I went on my own. After a while, I became a high school monitor, and during school vacations, I headed back to Holland for two weeks to train. Otherwise, I trained on my own, in Angoulême, near Bordeaux, And I did things a bit like that, like this and like that. And, that's how I started with my Dutch coach, to fight abroad, in China, in Australia. I was on my own, and what I always missed, when I saw the other clubs, there were always 3, 4, 5, 6 fighters in a club, and it was a family. They shared the same passion, they trained together, they'd go running together. Me, I was on my own all the time. I'd run alone all the time. You were talking about work earlier, because people remember Samuel, big mouth, etc. but nobody says "Samuel", he... Like today, people are full of praise for Cristiano, people say he's a relentless worker, but you probably were too, for sure, but people don't necessarily remember that, or maybe because that's not what you showed, because we could only see the tip of the iceberg. I remember, in winter, it was snowing, and I was out on the track running, and I said to myself: "I hope that, one day, I'll be on a TV set talking about all this, and that people will say: yeah, this guy worked hard". I was alone on the track, it was snowing and I was running, that's what I hate the most, running round stadium tracks, but, because, I said to myself: "it's going to pay off". I loved that. - Running? What? I'd go for miles on end. Have you never seen how he'd run when he was on the field? But you spoke about... the regret I had, in 2002 and 2010, I had two World Cups. The first, with different experiences, the first, I was much younger. We arrived in France, preparation, last week before joining, it was Korea-Japan. And we had issues with bonuses. And, at that point, we decided not to travel, to stop training. I continued. Don't you regret it today? I do, but I didn't weigh things up, I was the best, but I was the youngest. So, even before I opened my mouth, I was doing this. Do you see? And I thought, at that point in time, I could have said to the seniors: "there's something much bigger waiting out there for us". I swear, we had a team that could have won the World Cup. Ah, Samuel... But, Aurélien. We came out in 2002... Ah, hold on! In 2002, you had a team that could win the World Cup? We came out with 4 points. What was your pool? - World Cup. We had Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Germany. Let me tell you, we were winning 1-0, I dribbled so many players on the line, I passed to Patrick Mboma on the line, no way could he miss it, even my grandmother would've scored! He told me: "you're the best player in the world, little bro". He ran towards me... - You were smaller? Yeah, I was just a kid. Patrick, he's magic. He told me: "you're the best player in the world, We got caught up on the score, Saudi Arabia, I scored, we won 1-0, we had 4 points. We played against Germany, we had at least 6 opportunities for goals. And, you didn't score? - When faced with Oliver Khan. I played with my fibula shattered for the whole match so we were out of this competition, but, why were we out? because physically, we were stretched, we'd travelled almost 72 hours to get to Japan. Understand? Then we had 2010... - You could have won 2010 too? Maybe we couldn't win but we could make the semi-final. But when you're already in the semi-finals, lots can happen. Now, Samuel, you're talking about changing things, Racism but there is another really serious issue, beyond the bonuses, salaries, etc. in football, and that's racism. Mike, you've experienced racism, Samuel, as well. Mike, you left the field, How was it? Did you have any support at that time? Samuel had said to leave the field. Of course, you'd stepped up several times, saying "Stop the game, get off the field." Mike, that's what you did. I left the field, because it had happened once, we blew the whistle, spoke to the referee, the federation, things were supposedly going to change, and nothing changed, so I left the field. I left, I took my responsibilities. Then again, my team was united, they left the field with me, hoping that it would change things, but up to now nothing's really changed much. I'm going to give you some good news. Today, three supporters of the Spain were sentenced to eight months in prison. Cedric, have you already experienced racism in your field? I don't think you hear as much about it as you do in football. Maybe we're not as exposed. I discussed it before with Rédouane, it happened to me in Bercy, my opponent was a Dutchman whose public was known to be rather, I don't want to say they were racists, but there were a few hooligans. All blonds with blue eyes… The only brown-haired guys had this little moustache! It was Nieky Holzken. And if you look for that fight on internet, you'll see me coming in at one point, I'm dancing and they're all flipping me the bird, there's a small group flipping me the bird. I'm moving towards them, dancing and taunting them and then I go back to the fight. People have even insulted me, I'm at my hotel, they walk past me, insulting me. Actually, you know, racism has always fascinated me, I mean, it's crazy that someone can come up to you, or from far off, call you a dirty black, or a monkey, or scream like a monkey. I tell myself it can't be true. You're mentally deficient. Yeah, to me it's unbelievable. And it's become a recurring thing. What's worse is that they don't even do it to your face. Tell me how a normal person can buy a ticket to watch a black guy fight and then squeal like a monkey? I wouldn't buy a ticket. I'd like to know, for all of you, Cédric, Mike, Redouane, Notoriety what's your relationship to celebrity and the fact that people look at you differently. Before I became famous, if I got stopped by the police, customs, things were different. There was a lot of tension. They'd really search me, there was physical contact, even verbally it was tough. -Now they show you respect. But now, when I get stopped stopped in my car by customs, it's a piece of cake. Redouane! Before they would search up my butt, now, they pat me on the back, things are different. Really, before they'd do a full search, now it's … - Things changed. Same for you, Cédric? You're the talk of the town, nowadays. it used to happen to me when I was younger I remember my cousins and I were always nervous when we'd go clubbing, that was around 10 or 15 years ago, we'd go clubbing, and we'd worry, "will we be able to get in?" "They won't let us in", three black guys, no girls, nothing, we'd be stressed out. And as I became famous, I'd see the bouncers who used to show off, talk disrespectfully, and look at you as if you were some piece of junk, "Hey, Doumbè, how's it going? Come on in." And that would annoy me, because I'd wonder what had changed? Nothing's changed, I'm the same person. Purchasing power. - That's it. Just because … - You've got purchasing power. Just because you know me you know who I am, you treat me differently, and the guy behind me that you keep waiting, maybe he's better than I am. Maybe he's a better person. But you treat him poorly because of his social status and that kind of difference has always annoyed me. How about you, Mike? You are very discreet, you keep a super low profile. Unfortunately, I … Mike doesn't like that. I prefer, actually, it's difficult, because I want to lead the same life as before while being who I am today. And it doesn't work. I wasn't in the spotlight, I didn't have all that money. What buzzed you when you didn't have any money? Kebab ? -Yeah, I'd walk in the streets, no hassle, leading a simple life, I didn't have to check left and right all the time. Even going to the restaurant is difficult in Milan for Mike. I'd be cool, walking around my town. Just walking around, nobody paying attention to me. That's over. Especially in Milan, In Milan, the fans are … In Milan … - Italy … Everywhere in Italy. - Sure. I have buddies who play in Naples, football players are bigger than the Pope there. It's crazy. You've got football players, the Pope, the mafia, in that order, and everywhere they go, people move aside, take out the table as in Goodfellas, they don't have to pay for anything. Football players in Italy, it's really wild … It's a football country. I'm going to offend some people, but Italy, Spain are footballll countries. France is a country that enjoys football, but it's not a football country. - It's different. We like boxing now. - Right, we like boxing. France, except for Marseille. Marseille lives and breathes football. If the team loses, the city is dead. If the team wins, the next day, the daily paper, La Provence, sells a million copies. Restaurants, bars, clubs, business thrive when the team wins. Now, Redouane, we discussed it earlier, you mentioned that the positive aspect of fame, is to have, let's say, privileges and special rights. But there's also a negative aspect, Bad buzz. Because bad buzz will spread very quickly, with social media nowadays. Samuel, there's a video that went viral not long ago, where in the end, you only get part of the story, and you don't see the full story. How do you deal with that? Do you feel that people's perception of you is a bit unfair? In fact, there is always some kind of injustice, Samuel and the Cameroonian Football Federation but you can't look at it that way, because in that case, I'm responsible for an institution. Lots of things are happening and you tell yourself you have to stop, you're in charge, you're the boss of an institution. It's true that some people didn't do things right, but you don't need to go as far as they did. So, you stop. But we're only human beings. Today, unfortunately, there's a new phenomenon, "highjackers". - Who are these highjackers? - People who talk nonsense. One day, they'll say: "Samuel did this and that." But when you read more, they contradict themselves, everytime. And that's very dangerous, Others suffer from that. Sometimes, people ask me "How do you put up with all that?" I can because I know the truth. You've never been tempted to give everything up, the federation, for example? Sure, I've wanted to give up several times. What keeps you going? It's not what other people say that will make me give up. What's important to me is that if out of the 600, 700 players we manage, two of them will tell me "we have good salaries." Because we started from the ground up. Because before becoming the federation, we were a group of buddies managing football, making money. I thought, "I'm a football player." I'm entering the political world of management, and I have to bring something else. You're not doing it for your sake. I don't get a salary from the federation. The federation doesn't pay you? - I don't need it. And when times are tough, I take money out of my pocket, put it in. People don't know that. - I don't need to tell them. But it's important that people should know maybe to change the image they have of you. I don't need to change my image. I don't need that. That's another thing, if you're strong, you don't live for other people, you live for yourself, your values, you live up to your principles, you know what you have to do. People can write what they like, it can't affect you, it can't make you let go because you know why you're here. You know what you're doing. So, as he said, hijackers can write away, as long as we have principles and we stand strongly for what we want to do … That's the most important thing. They can do whatever they like. The players are the most important. Take the Real Madrid, if you're buying Kylian Mbappé at 100 million as a signing bonus, the club is going to earn a billion. Would you give your money out for free to someone? Never. - You know what I mean. So, in Africa, people need to stop thinking with their emotions, when you're running a business, it's business, and the federation is a business, it's not a bunch of friends who are waiting for money from FIFA, from welfare, from the State, to share it among themselves. The hardest part is explaining to people that you lose too much energy in petty fights and that you no longer have enough energy for the bigger fights. They make you waste too much energy. You get caught up in stories, manipulation … And so, with these "highjackers" who'll work for anybody, who will say anything and everything, you have to keep a clear mind. You can all be against me, as long as I'm sticking to the law and my project, you'll be asking me for accounts at the end of my mandate. I have the feeling you want to recreate an environment, I mean the same environment you discovered when you were a professional football player, for instance, in Spain or in other countries, you're trying to recreate that because there's potential in Cameroon, there's talent in Africa, but what's missing is structure. Let me explain something that goes unnoticed, that nobody understands. The first transfer between an African country and Europe, is more or less … you've paid too much if you've paid 1 million dollars, you've paid too much. Six months later, the same player is sold at 30 million pounds. Africa loses a lot of money and when I say Africa, I mean the clubs lose lots of money. Actually, people don't have the right mindset for business. It’s purely business. My job is to make sure that the national team gets only the best. But the best according to whom? It all depends on the coach. At the end of the day, I want results. Last time I organized a match we put 39,000 tickets on sale. I said, "Nobody gets in without buying a ticket." And they said, "Oh, he's too strict!" How can I finance football? Small things like that. And there are people giving money to a few influencers so they can insult you, tell lies. At that point, either you stop, you listen to them and you lose lots of time, a lot more time, and you don't get anywhere. But I have to move forward because I know where I'm going. Some people feel, or others who are afraid of the unknown say, they say "That's all very well, but since I get 500 CFA francs just like that every day, I prefer keeping it that way." Instead of seeing the millions in front of them, and that's Africa for you. You see, that is why people don't dare do anything, that's why I say, If you want to invest, it's 50-50 and we open schools everywhere. If someone wants to come, and I invite you to come, we build schoolrooms, and we pass on this knowledge to young people. They must go to school. We have to give them the opportunity … It just shows that your main goal is transmission, and to support Africa's development. Africa must evolve. But it has to be teamwork. You can't do it on your own. It is a vast continent. Even two people alone can do it. I work all hours. I call my secretary at 4 am, I tell him, "Listen, you didn't send me this or that document. What's going on?" "President, I'm sleeping." "Well, I'm not", I tell him. We have to work constantly. In Africa, people sleep way too much, I would even say they're afraid of what's good for them because they have been bullied, manipulated, they were told, "No, this isn't for you, it's meant for other people". But that's not true. Cédric, I left New Bell, you know the place, to sit at the big boys' table. So, everything is possible for everyone. Why did these Africans say "That's not for …" No! That's why sometimes when people see me, they say, "He says that because he's rich." It's not because I'm rich it's because I've been there, I've done that, and I'd like those who are like me to do the same and be proud to say, "I may be an African." It's a tough struggle because it's not against yourself, it's you against the system. That's right. - Beating the system is tough. All the big systems crashed. - That's true. But it took time. - Let's start from there. When you think that Africa is the richest continent but paradoxically it's the poorest, there's a problem there. I lived six years in Qatar. Qatar based its politics on two elements: diplomacy and sports. Education is free there. Go anywhere, and you'll see big Qatari CEOs. And the country's developing because they are educated. I didn't go to college, The ambition to be the best but curiosity has always driven me to strive for improvement. Traveling has taught me that to make people rich, you have to give them knowledge and opportunities. And that's what I want. I want, 20 years from now, for Africa to have around a hundred billionaires in dollars. The balance of power will change. You have to think, "I want to be like Abrahamovitch and I want to be a billionaire." So, you have a project, you prepare it, you say you need this, this, and that. Two years from now, I'll be here, in four years, there. All my career has been about high ambition. And that's what I'm always advising young people to do when they ask me questions, you always should have great expectations for yourself, aim for the sun and worst case, you'll reach the moon. You can't aim for the sun, you'll burn, brother. You see what I mean? - It takes a lot of work. Undeniably, it takes work. If you say, "I want to be president", or, "I want to be the greatest goalkeeper in history", you know it won't just happen, you're going to put in the effort, you're going to do what it takes, that's why high ambition is key. But if you—we mentioned the changing rooms before— say, "ok, I hope I'll play a good match", you'll never play an exceptional match. You'll never score triple if you tell yourself "I just want to play a good match." If I start thinking, "I just want to avoid a knockout", I go into the ring, I lose by points, and that's ok. So, back to Baki and his thorn, he says, "I'm satisfied". But if you say, I'm going to get him on the first round, and I come with a mattress with goodnight written on it, I don't want to knock him out, the referee just stops the game. So, you get up there, put him to sleep, see what I mean? That's crazy stuff, that's high ambition. You have to face up to that, because it takes lots of work. Nobody, not you Samuel, not you Redouane, says, "I want to make people laugh, be the best comedian", an anecdote to finish and then sits around at home. No, you get to work, you have to work, work relentlessly, give yourself the means to take on this huge ambition, but not everyone has high ambitions. And what you were saying, in a nutshell, is that your goal is to break the imaginary chains the Africans wear. You see, we still wear these imaginary chains, we think, "This is not for us." But in truth, we have the talent, we have the richest continent, and paradoxically the poorest. It's a management issue. - It's a great conclusion, giving people hope. I feel that's part of what we all do in our respective jobs, and to wrap up, in line with this message of hope, I'd like you to share your best memory with us. One of the best memories of my career is when I came up with my motto, when I started as an amateur, which is, "I'm the best, let the best win." Every time I'd compete, I was an amateur, and people would ask, "Who is this guy?" I would say, "I'm the best, let the best win." I remember going to amateur competitions, I'd come with a CD with two songs. I'd say, "That's my entrance music." At the time, I'd always play “Bafana, Bafana” by La Fouine, my entrance music, and I'd say, "When I win, play that." It was Dougie (Cali Swag District). And I danced when I won. And the DJ would say, "OK, but what if you lose?", I'd say, "I won't lose, you'll play that music." And every time I won, I'd look at him, he'd play the music. That was my motto, "I'm the best, let the best win". I'll always remember my first world champion belt, when I beat the Dutchman who was undefeated, unbeatable, unbeaten in the Glory seven years in a row, that was like the Champion's League of Kickboxing, and they put me against him, but to make him shine, because I was unknown, so, they said, "Badr Hari is fighting, as the main event, and as a co-main event, let's put Nieky Holzken against Doumbé, he talks a bit too much, but he's nobody, so, it will be good for the Dutchman. He was unbeatable, everyone tried, nobody succeeded. I can, I'm the best and I'm going to beat him. On social media, I said, "I'm gonna cut off his head" I did some editing; his head cut off, me holding his belt. With the beard … Trouble, nothing but trouble! So, in the first round people said, "Nieky's just warming up." Second round, I start showing off, I'm taking off, Third, fourth, fifth round, I win by points. He couldn't even steal points, it would've been too obvious. I won by points, and what's my best memory? When the journalist, on France 2, on the sports news report said, "24 year-old Cédric Doumbè is the best kickboxer." Just that, that's my best memory. I was the one saying, "I'm the best", people saying, "No …" "24-year old Cédric Doumbè is the best kickboxer in his category." That's it, I won the lottery. And my mother was there, she didn't want me to be a boxer, when I was a kid, I told her, "Mom, come, there's a boxing gym over there." She said, "No boxing in this house." I would sneak out there, and now she's in the audience, screaming and all. Were you a fan of the movie Kickboxer? Sure, everyone loved Kickboxer, but I didn't particularly. Anyway, that was my best memory. Afterwards, I was no longer the one saying, "Cédric Doumbè is the best." What about you, Redouane? What, from my career? - Yeah, your career. Well, to tell you the truth, it hasn't happened yet, it will be the Stade Vélodrome. You're preparing already … - What about the Parc des Princes? The Parc des Princes? Well, for certain reasons … security reasons, like you, you're Camp Nou not … Bernabéu. - That's right. The thing is, I'm from Marseille, and it's a childhood dream to perform at the Vélodrome, I feel it will be my best … I think it's the climax of my career, I couldn't do better. Because for us comedians the Holy Grail is the Olympia, it's right here, at Opera, you have your name up in big red letters, and I performed there two years ago, and when I did, I wanted a marketing splash, I told them, "I want the letters in light blue" because red is for Marseille. I asked and the manager said, "Sure, we can. It costs €40,000, we have to order the letters." You know what? Red's beautiful, man, Why should we spoil the venue? So, I performed at the Olympia, then I went to the Palais des Sports, I did ten performances at the Palais des Sports, I'll be giving two at Bercy, but the climax … - Will be in your town. The Vélodrome is home. - Congratulations in advance! It's mostly because I invited only artists from Marseille. You didn't invite us. - I invited you guys, but you've got the European Championship. We're waiting for what the doctor has to say, everybody's going "Inch'allah" … There's what's-his-name warming up on the sidelines. What's his name, Jordan Veretout is warming up on the sidelines. And if Aurélien isn't injured, he should play a good championship. Mike, what's your best memory? Well, I think most are ahead of me because I'm still young. Up to now, my best memory is … The derby? - No, not even, it's a personal one, when I bought my mother a house. That's beautiful. Yeah, that's my best memory. You're making us look bad. I was going to say my daughter's birth, then I thought, "No, let's talk career" he says, "Yeah, my ma, a villa …" That day, she cried a lot, but you see, those were different tears. They weren't the tears I had caused … Police turning up at home … - Detention. Not because I'd messed up, those were tears of joy, and for the time being, that's my best memory. Bravo. - That's beautiful. You, Samuel? - I don't know yet. Mine is when I bought 30 Bugatti! You don't know yet? Wait and see what the future holds. Before I became president of the federation, everyone said it was impossible. But I knew I had won even before I said I was running. Even my friends, my teams when I told them, "We won", they were surprised. And for us, it was a great adventure. But I don't think it's the best journey yet because I have so many projects, ambitions, and I think … - It will happen. It will happen. - Even a triple …? You know … - He doesn't care as long … No, I mean triple wins, Champion's League, Cup, Championship. Yeah, those are great moments. Then he has kids and they're triplets! Next season, if he's European champion again, he'll forget the trophy he just won. One thing leads to another, and at the end of your career, you look back, they tell you, "You've won 20, 30 trophies", and you say, "Really?" You don't have time to realize you've won all that, The best challenge or memory is the one up ahead. And what I really want, at the time, I'd say, is to see young people, to whom I've given a chance, see them in a stadium. I've seen youngsters play in UEFA Cup finals. I see this kid I took in, he was 7-8 years old, and he's playing in the UEFA Cup finals. Getting off his plane, smart, and I thought, "I'm so proud." You see, that's a really great memory, because he was nothing. I had other players in the Cameroon national team, at one time, I had 6 or 7 players who had come from my training center and who were in the national team, and they won the African Cup. Can you imagine? You've won two, played three finals, you've won two, and your kids are African champions, but I was in the stands … It's a form of recognition. I was truly happy, because it was a blessing from God. It's the past now. We'll end on that note. Thank you all for coming. Thank you. - It was a pleasure. Mike, surprise guest, even we weren't expecting him. We like that. - That's The Bridge. Mike The Bridge. 5 September, Cédric Doumbé vs. Mike! As a main event. - Mike, you're dead, right? He didn't ask for anything! He just paid us a friendly visit! Ok, we'll check it out! Thank you all, and see you soon.