Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi has revealed the chronology of how he found out that he had been called up to the France senior squad for the upcoming 2020 European Championship qualifiers.
The 20-year-old revealed that he was asleep when the telephone rang, a call that turned his dream into reality.
“I was taking a nap and someone knocked on my door. I didn’t answer because I was sleeping,” the midfielder told FFF TV. “Then my phone rang and it was the coach on the phone.
“He said, ‘It’s me, I knocked’ and so on. Obviously then I opened the door straight away and then he said, ‘Matteo, come here, we need to talk’. He said, ‘I like you very much but you have to leave’. And I said, ‘What do you mean I have to leave? What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Actually you’re going with the France senior team’.
“In my mind, it was like… at first I couldn’t believe it. Ten minutes before, I was asleep – I thought I was still in a dream. The coach and I, we had a good talk. He explained it well. That’s it, he told me I was in the senior side. It’s a dream, I’m just glad I showered for the sake of my awareness!
“It’s a big surprise for me. It’s been a dream since I was a kid. It’s something extraordinary. I think any French player would want to play for this national team, it’s something huge. What I’m going through is really something extraordinary. I’m the happiest person in the world.
“I’m joining the world champions and it’s just exceptional. I’m going to learn a lot with them, with the staff, and it’s going to be very rewarding for me.”
It has been a meteoritic rise for Guendouzi who has improved significantly for Arsenal since he joined them at the start of last season from French side FC Lorient, he has already represented France at U18, U19, U20 and U21 level.
He transfer fee was just £7 Million plus bonuses and he came to the Emirates with the tag of French wonderkid and to some extent, he is living up to that reputation, put it this way, he is worth a lot more than £7 Million now.
He is obviously not guaranteed a start for the French national team this time around but it must only be a matter of time before he his given an opportunity to shine on the international stage.