Klaus Daimler
Established Member
I read a great story about Ruffier yesterday, by the way. It's especially great from an Arsenal perspective. Ruffier was born in Bayanne in the Basque Country, but he signed his fist professional contract with Monaco at the age of fifteen and had to leave home early. He understandably struggled to adapt to a new city hundreds of miles away from friends and family. He grew depressed and was thinking about quitting football for a while. His mom noticed a change in tone and behaviour but didn't know what to do. On one hand she didn't want her son to be unhappy but at the same time she didn't want him to quit football either when she knew that he could make a good career out of it.Armor for Sleep said:I watched that game too Klaus and was impressed. Definitely looked decisive and confident.
Anyway, it just so happened that Ruffier's mom was waiting in line at the airport one day, and as she glanced to her side she noticed a certain bearded, long-haired gentleman who looked familiar from a poster that her son had on his wall. That guy was Robert Pires. She explained the situation with Ruffier to Pires, who understood, asked to borrow her cellphone and gave the lad a ring. Pires told Stéphane that he, too, had gone through some difficult moments in his career, but that it was important not to give up on your dreams just because things don't seem to go your way. He asked him if he loved playing football and pointed out that very few are lucky enough to have it as a day job. "Keep your chin up and good things will happen eventually" he told him and gave the phone back.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Ruffier is expected to make his full national debut for France this upcoming wednesday.