DBasia.news – Many have questioned Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) decision to bring in Eric Maxim Choupo-Maxim in the summer of 2018. The Cameroonian national player’s name supports foreigners compared to the stars who fill the Les Parisiens squad.
As is known, PSG were transformed into one of Europe’s rich clubs since they were owned by Nasser Al-Khelaifi. The Qatari tycoon has a hobby of gathering star players to the Parc des Princes.
Meanwhile, Choupo-Moting is far from being a star player. Before strengthening PSG, he only defended the bottom Premier League club, Stoke City.
Choupo-Moting even failed to save his club from the relegation in his inaugural season in England. That means, he could have appeared in the Championship division if PSG had not recruited him.
After moving to France, doubts accompanied Choupo-Moting’s work with PSG. This was proven by the lack of opportunities given to him to show his abilities.
Choupo-Moting did play 31 games in all competitions in his inaugural season. However, he only started 12 times with three goals and two assists.
From that minimal opportunity, Choupo-Moting once made a blunder that was quite embarrassing and hard to forget. That moment occurred in the match against Strasbourg, April 2019.
At that time, PSG only needed one win to seal the Ligue 1 title. Choupo-Moting, who appeared as a starter, had a golden opportunity to score a goal in the 28th minute.
Choupo-Moting got the ball cooked on the edge of the goal. Instead of pushing the ball into the goal, he held it down so that the ball stopped right in front of the goal line.
As a result of the blunder, PSG ended the match with a score of 2-2. They also had to wait longer to end the title race.
These blunders made PSG fans angry. Choupo-Moting has been heavily criticized and scolded via social media.
A year later, Choupo-Moting was still at PSG. Now his playing opportunities are running low, so his name is starting to be forgotten.
But unexpectedly, Choupo-Moting turned into a PSG hero in the Champions League. He scored the winning goal over Atalanta that led them to the first semifinals since 25 years ago.
No wonder the term ‘From Zero to Hero’ is attached to Choupo-Moting. The goal against Atalanta seemed to make up for his blunder last year and also answered PSG fans’ doubts.
“It was a crazy game, a game and difficult opponents. I think we showed until the very last moment that we believed in ourselves,” Choupo-Moting told UEFA’s official website.
PSG’s victory was not determined by Choupo-Moting alone. But his goal will certainly be remembered for a long time, especially if PSG is able to complete it with a title.