Des nouvelles de Lassana Diarra (Chelsea)

Diarra escapes mean streets to make a name at Chelsea
Sat Jan 14, 2006 8:09 PM GMT163

By Clare Lovell

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Football saved emerging Chelsea midfielder Lassana Diarra from poverty, unemployment and rioting in the tough Paris housing estate where he grew up and he intends to make the most of his good fortune.

The 20-year-old, who enjoyed an impressive full debut for the English champions in the 2-1 FA Cup win over Huddersfield Town last week, said his coach bought his first pair of football boots.

"I was brought up in a district where things are difficult. We did not always have what we needed," Diarra told reporters after training for Sunday's Premier League game against bottom club Sunderland.

"You get by any way you can."

"Football was the only thing we had, without football we had nothing."

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who signed Diarra from French second division team Le Havre last July, described him as their best player against Huddersfield and promised him a rare place among his high flying regulars in the squad on Sunday.

Diarra, left for a football academy in Nantes aged 12 and rarely returned to his old district, though he worried about friends and family left behind especially during the recent riots.

HARD-WORKING

"I left very young and when I came back I tried not to get too involved," said Diarra, who was spotted at an under-20 tournament by experienced Chelsea scout Gwyn Williams.

His father, a retired mason, and mother have returned to Mali and have yet to see him play in England though he has had visits from brothers and sisters based in France.

Mostly, the left-footed midfielder just keeps his head down and works hard, apparently undaunted by the difficulty of breaking into a first team packed with world class internationals.

"I work and I know that if I work well things will come," he said. It's one of the best squads in the world and in the Premier League there aren't many 20-year-olds who have a chance to play every week.

"I'm learning something every week. There's a lot to learn," said the France under-21 international, who has made two substitute appearances for Chelsea in the Champions League this season.

The diminutive Diarra, who bears more than a slight resemblance to international compatriot Claude Makelele on the ball and is being groomed eventually to take his place as Chelsea's holding midfielder, said he still had to adapt to the English game.

Makelele has been his mentor so far.

"Claude put me at ease straight away," he said. "He has nothing to prove. I have a lot to prove."

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