Profile of Marcus Thuram, Son of the French Football Legend

DBasia.news – Going on a professional career under the shadow of the success of my big name dad is not easy. Just look at the career journey of Enzo Zidane and Ianis Hagi, two examples of the sons of world football icons Zinedine Zidane and Gheorghe Hagi.

Their careers as professional footballers are still long and there is potential to develop, but so far, wherever they go, the comparison with their father has always been in the public eye, especially since Hagi and Zidane are not yet successful players.

Those are just two examples. There are still the names of the sons of other football legends such as Federico Chiesa, Justin Kluivert, Erling Haaland, Giovani Simeone, Daley Blind et al. One other name that has recently caught the eye is Marcus Thuram.

Just look at his last name and you will realize that he is the son of French football legend Lilian Thuram. Lilian Thuram was a teammate and compatriot of Zinedine Zidane in France, but some time ago the name ‘Thuram’ became a ghost for Zizou.

Precisely in the second match of the Champions League group between Borussia Monchengladbach and Real Madrid at Borussia-Park, Wednesday (28/10) early morning Western Indonesian Time. Marcus Thuram added pressure to Zidane when he scored two goals before both Karim Benzema and Casemiro replied (match ended 2-2).

The result ensured Madrid was winless in the first two Champions League matches after previously losing 2-3 to Shakhtar Donetsk. Miguel Angel Lara wrote in Marca with the headline “This is Marcus Thuram: The son of Lilian and a nightmare for Real Madrid.”

The Champions League is often the stage for players to popularize his name and Marcus Thuram does it. A few days after he was confronted by stadium security guards who did not recognize him until Marcus searched for his own information on Google and showed it, Marcus twice broke into the goal of the team that won 13 Champions League titles.

“Of course it feels good to score my first two goals in the Champions League against Real Madrid. But I would prefer it if we won three points,” said Thuram quoted from the official UEFA website.

“Real Madrid is one of the best teams in the world and we should know that they will do everything they can. We have to learn from this experience.”

“We can be satisfied with two points from two games, but we also know the points could be more. We will take positive things from tonight’s game and hopefully the result against Shakhtar will be different.”

His father was one of the best defenders in the world with the ability to read the game, discipline in defense, straightforward and successful with the French national team and played at club level with Monaco, Parma, Juventus and Barcelona from mid 1991-2008.

The child chooses a different playing position: attacker. Marcus is compared to Anthony Martial in the wing attack position: agile, fast, direct in his game, plus Marcus has the advantage of a bigger body to be physically strong.

At least that is what is seen at this time from Thuram with Borussia Monchengladbach. “He is a fast, strong and dangerous attacker who fits perfectly into our squad, and we are sure he will succeed in the Bundesliga,” said Max Eberl, Gladbach’s sporting director of Marcus.

Jalan Thuram is playing for Gladbach right now. Given that he is only 23 years old, there is still a bright way for the player who was born in Parma, August 6, 1997 to be called up by the national team and succeed in Europe.

However, his career at the beginning was not easy for Marcus Thuram. Lilian Thuram has two children, Marcus and Khephren Thuram, both of whom are professional footballers. Khephren (19 years) plays as a midfielder and is now defending Nice.

Lilian originally didn’t want her two children to follow in her footsteps as professional footballers, and even encouraged them to try other sports like judo and fencing, but in the end Marcus and Khephren ignored her and continued playing football.

Initially it was not easy for Marcus to become a professional footballer, because his habit of consuming junk food (fast food) stopped his dream. But the situation has slowly changed since entering Sochaux academy and moving to Guingamp in 2017.

Even though he felt relegation from Ligue 1, Marcus’s action with a fast and agile wing attacker was able to attract the attention of European club scouts until he was recruited by Gladbach in 2019.

In his first season with Gladbach Marcus, he scored a total of 14 goals and provided nine assists from 39 matches. Together with Alessane Plea and Breel Embolo, the three of them became Gladbach’s mainstay trio with different roles.

“I believe that Marcus is still far from the end of his development. There is much more to come from him. Marcus is a footballer who has benefited a lot from his physique and stature,” said Gladbach coach Marco Rose.

“He is also a good technician, who can always deal with difficult situations in tight spaces,” added Rose.

The name Marcus was given by Lilian with a special meaning because Lilian admired the human rights activist (Human Rights) Marcus Garvey. Thuram has indeed become a human rights activist fighting for human rights and fighting racism after hanging up his shoes.

“If I go to the stadium and people don’t like me, it just makes me want to do more. When fans insult me, it just makes me even more excited,” said Marcus.

“They remember my name and it is normal for them to be their target. I wear the name (Thuram) with pride and do not feel pressure because of it,” he explained.