Dribbling a soccer ball, Antoine Lemarie might be a long way from home, but the journeyman is now on top of the world having landed his first professional contract and scored online fame in Cambodia.
The 27-year-old midfielder went viral on YouTube after his unexpected signing to the Cambodian Premier League’s Boeung Ket in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Having posted videos on his channel since 2020, Lemarie was shocked at the response to footage of his first match for the Blue Dragons, which racked up more than 140,000 views.
Photo: AFP
“I was stunned, it’s so unlikely,” he told reporters.
“My life has changed completely,” he said, adding that he was signed after years of struggling as an amateur in Europe.
He is to live and play in Cambodia until May under a contract worth several thousand dollars, with the club providing an apartment and a motorcycle for his daily commute.
Photo: AFP
Lemarie has documented online the difficult conditions and scant rewards in the lower reaches of the European game while he worked part-time as an ice-cream seller, pizza delivery man, removal man and valet to make ends meet.
He made headlines last year after leaving a third-division Greek club, alleging that the manager had threatened to assault him.
His experience shone a light on the unscrupulous side of the sport, where young players can be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
“There were many ups and downs, very low moments, bad encounters,” he said.
His YouTube channel has more than 20,000 subscribers, many based in France, and it is where he posts videos of his experiences on and off the field.
“It is also interesting to show a bit of the life around me, as I am not in a random club, I am in Cambodia,” he said. “For them, it is interesting to discover another country, I think.”
Cambodian soccer has crumbling infrastructure and relative anonymity, but Lemarie is part of a small coterie of foreigners plying their trade in the nation.
Boeung Ket coach Hong Pheng told reporters that overseas players were an asset and he welcomed the extra attention brought by his newest player.
“I don’t mind ... when he posts a video, it will promote Cambodian football,” he said.
Lemarie is having to handle increased expectations now he is a full-time professional, but having achieved his lifelong dream, he does not mind the added pressure.
“Anything that goes after is just a bonus,” he said.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS