That’s historic. I’m weighing my words. Pathé Mboup, 23, has been called up for the first time by Senegal, under Patrick Vieira, for the two games against Sudan in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. And in 2022 he signed for Standard Liège, the Belgian club. A spell in Belgium. As far as I’m concerned, that makes him a Belgian abroad, and I’m not saying that because I’m a supporter. Well, yes I am.
I posted it in my WhatsApp group, “Sunday Devils”, at 8am, before I’d even had coffee. My brother-in-law replied “so what?”. So, on to the rest. At 11, this boy was the little lad in the yellow ACFC shirt in the “Magic in the air” video by Magic System. More than 564 million views on YouTube. I’ve danced to it at three weddings and a communion without knowing I was dancing in front of a future international.
And then the temperature drops straight back down. Twelve years. I watched that video for twelve years without spotting the talent. Me, who discusses probable line-ups like official team sheets. That’s a disgrace. I’m weighing my words, and the disgrace is mine.
Right, there are positives. Trained at AS Dakar Sacré-Cœur, like Iliman Ndiaye, then Lyon, then Pau in Ligue 2, arrived at Brest in summer 2025, and now nine starts in nine games. ACFC, the academy whose shirt he wore in the video, was launched in Diamniadio in direct partnership with Stade brestois 29. The yellow shirt was already the right one.
Silly question, but if you dance to the video, do you count as part of the training?
I put the song back on at the café, next to the table football. Historic, really. Well, not bad. Now we take it one game at a time, you know.
It’s true, we checked: RMC Sport.
