At 14, the open fracture that could have halted Manu Koné’s rise | OneFootball

At 14, Manu Koné suffered an open leg fracture days after joining Toulouse’s academy, a moment that nearly derailed his rise. He will start for France against Iraq in Philadelphia on Monday at 23:00, their second World Cup match. According to L’Équipe, he once feared the dream had gone.

After two years at INF Clairefontaine, he arrived in 2015, steady rather than a prodigy. In 2014 Toulouse beat Bordeaux to his signature, Rémy Loret sealing the deal at his family’s table. In his third session a collision broke his tibia, emergency crews arrived and his parents hurried to Toulouse.

The pain was brutal. Wheelchair gave way to a brace and crutches as Amine Adli, injured a week earlier, joined him in rehab. Now France and Morocco internationals, they shared breakfasts, treatment and school while team-mates trained.

Mental coach Jean-Philippe Delpech helped channel the frustration, with check-ins from Philippe Bretaud. Brother Hermann Kouakou urged patience and belief that work would be rewarded.

On his return, staff worried about an altered gait and a right foot that kept opening. Fitness coach Stéphane Lastbax used visualisation drills, eyes closed, to straighten the ankle. Progress was slow but constant.

Eight months on he played two matches, imperfect but encouraging. The next season he led Toulouse to the U17 final, then the Gambardella final a year later.

Coaches felt the ordeal forged him, and Adli now jokes it even shaped his strike. From those first-floor academy rooms to the World Cup stage, Koné’s path has been built step by step.

Source: L'Équipe