Called at the last minute by Didier Deschamps to compete in the 2022 World Cup, Marcus Thuram continues playing time in this World Cup.
The story is beautiful. 24 years after his father Lilian, Marcus Thuram will start a World Cup match with the France team. A unique fact in the history of the Blues. 26th man on Didier Deschamps’ list, Marcus Thuram is having a good season with the Borussia Monchengladbach and was repositioned in a role of number 9 which suits him rather well.
Know that if the player plays with the jersey of the France team, he could have evolved with the Italian team. Born in Parma when his father played with his Italian club, Marcus Thuram has dual nationality. Living for 4 years in Parma then 5 years at Juventus, the Frenchman never considered this option as he explained to World Eleven. “I’m French. I don’t know the Italian anthem by heart, I don’t have Italian culture. I was born in Italy, but I have a French family. So I’m French.”
In the national team, Marcus Thuram is selected for the under-17s. In 2016, he won against Italy (4-0) in the European Under-19 Football Championship. The following year, he took part in the Under-20 World Cup. He distinguished himself during the match against Vietnam by scoring a goal and making an assist. Despite everything, France lost in the round of 16 against Italy. He joined the senior France team in 2020 and played his first match against Finland on November 11. Two other selections follow 6 days apart in the group matches of the League of Nations, the opportunity to deliver his first decisive pass in Blue against Sweden (4-2). Absent from spring rallies, he is one of the 26 players selected for the France team for Euro 2021, unveiled by Didier Deschamps. A surprise from which he will benefit little since he will only play 9 meager minutes against Switzerland in the round of 16 (3-3, 4 tab 5).
Since then Marcus Thuram has disappeared from blue radar, going through the 2021-2022 season like a ghost. His rebirth since the start of the school year is all the more remarkable and convinces the coach, who had never stopped watching him, to call him back to go and compete in the World Cup in Qatar. A last minute choice to compensate for a possible poor form of Karim Benzema and
bring his dynamism ball at the foot and in front of the goal.
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Marcus Lilian Thuram-Ulien was born on August 6, 1997 in Parma, Italy. He is the son of Lilian Thuram, former player for the France team, 1998 world champion and 2000 European champion. Following in his father’s footsteps, Marcus plays club football, first at Olympique de Neuilly-sur-Seine then at AC Boulogne-Billancourt. He then joined the National Football Institute in Clairefontaine before joining the FC Sochaux-Montbéliard training center in 2012. Turning professional in 2015, Marcus Thuram played his first match in Ligue 2 against La Berrichonne de Châteauroux. He won the Gambardella Cup in 2015 and distinguished himself by scoring one of the 2 goals in the final.
In 2017, Marcus Thuram left FC Sochaux-Montbéliard to join EA Guingamp. During the quarter-finals of the 2018-2019 Coupe de la Ligue, he missed a penalty, but scored in stoppage time, which allowed his team to eliminate Paris Saint-Germain and reach the half-time. final against AS Monaco. The young striker distinguished himself in this semi-final by scoring a goal in the 55th minute.
In 2019, the footballer signed for Borussia Mönchengladbach and scored 14 goals in the 2019-2020 season. However, his season ended in June due to an ankle injury. During the following season, he scored 11 goals in 43 games, including a brace against Real Madrid in the Champions League. On December 19, 2020, Marcus Thuram created controversy by spitting in the face of Stefan Posch during a match against Hoffenheim. Condemned by the German Football Federation, this gesture earned him a suspension for 5 matches and a fine of 40,000 euros.
If he dragged this incident like a ball and chain all season, the former Guingampais took advantage of last summer to get his ideas in place and his performance on the ground attests to it. Since the start of the school year, repositioned at the forefront, he has been a hit and already has 10 goals in just 15 matches, as much as his Bundesliga record established in 2020 but in 31 matches. At 25, the striker seems to have matured further and is making the most of his percussion and finishing skills.
If Marcus Thuram is indeed the son of Lilian, world and European champion with France, his destiny as a footballer was not obvious. In an interview with L’Equipe, the former Parma defender explained that he would have preferred to see his children follow another path. “I wanted them to do other sports, he explains about his sons, the youngest Khephren being also
young professional footballer. I knew very well that if I put him in football, he was going to become Thuram’s son. At his age, it would have been too complicated for him. So he only played at home or in the park with his friends. It was only in Barcelona, in a more manageable setting, that he started at club level. Lilian Thuram will go even further, refusing to allow her son to join the prestigious INF Clairefontaine training school, judging him not yet mature enough. He will accept a year later,
“a blessing in disguise” according to Marcus. “when I joined Clairefontaine the following year, I was among the strongest” A few years later, Marcus Thuram therefore found Clairefontaine, base camp of the Blues for this Euro, and is preparing to play his first great international competition.