243 days after cardiac arrest
© Imago
Former Schalke Nabil Bentaleb celebrated a fantastic comeback. 243 days after his cardiac arrest, he brought the Losc Lille on Sunday evening in Ligue 1 in the 2-0 win at Stade Rennes just four minutes after his substitution with a dusting after a corner in the 80th minute. Attacker Chuba Akpom (86th) caused the final score shortly afterwards.
Bentaleb had suffered a cardiac arrest on June 18 and then had a pacemaker. Eight days earlier he played his last game for Algeria in the World Cup qualification against Uganda (2-1). After a long review of the health of health by the French Football Association, the midfielder got the green light for returning to the pitch last week.
He trained with the team on Thursday and on Friday he was informed that he would probably belong to the squad, Bentaleb described the last few days at “DAZN”. “I knew it on the corner. I said to myself that I had to help the team at 0-0. It is incredible. Images that will memorize forever. There are things that you don’t forget and that I will not forget when I stop football is part of it. ”
He didn’t really dream of scoring a goal. “But to enter the field, I had imagined that for eight months. I was like a scout, looked at the games from above and wondered how to improve. I have worked very hard in the past few months to achieve this result. That is remembered. But the most important thing is already my health of everyone. And above all that we got the three points. My wife, my parents … the victory is for her. “
The joy was not only great at Bentaleb, his teammates also celebrated a little louder than usual. “I have never experienced anything like that. It goes beyond football, it is the story of a life. We don’t know if he will sleep tonight, ”said defender Bafodé Diakité with a laugh, while club president Olivier Létang had tears on his face. “It’s nice, we would not have dreamed that,” said goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, while scorer added Akpom: “If you consider where he comes from, it is a gift from God.”
Bentaleb convinces in Lille training straight away
Coach Bruno Génésio, who surprised Bentalbs with the nomination and substitution, was also touched. “It’s a story like a film,” said the 58-year-old. “He deserves it. He believed and held out. This is an incredible story. It is rare to experience something like that. At that moment I hadn’t seen who had scored the goal, but when I saw him running, it became clear to me … this is a moment that will go into the history of the club, in its history, in our history. “
Despite the long break, Bentaleb immediately convinced him in training. “In the last units, he showed me things on a tactical and technical level that I liked very much. Above all, that was the reason why I substituted it. It was 0-0 and it was not about distributing gifts, ”said Génésio. “Everything that happens afterwards is enormous. The emotions are ten times as high. If you know your whole story since June, he is a role model for courage and resistance that goes far beyond football. ”