The news, which fell in the fall of 2016, delights the entire Laporte family, starting with Lionel, in tears with his son on the phone. This former rugby player and premier at the covered market in Agen had been waiting for three years to see his son selected for the French team. That day, he recognized it: he no longer believed in it. Euphoric, he lets himself go in the press on the love his offspring wears in the blue jersey. “Aymeric is French to the tips of his nails. (…) When he sings The Marseillaise, he always ends up crying ”, he confides to Parisian.
During the summer of 2016, Spain, through Basque coach Julen Lopetegui, insisted on courting the Athletic Bilbao defender. “Lopetegui wanted it at all costs, but Aymeric has worn the France captain’s jersey and armband since he was 16. For him, it was inconceivable to opt for Spain ”, defended Lionel Laporte, in France Football this time.
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Five years later, it is with the holding of the Roja on the shoulders that Aymeric Laporte, never used by Didier Deschamps despite several invitations, began, Monday, June 14, at Euro 2021, his first major international competition. Carlos Gurpegui, his captain in Bilbao, understands the choice of his former teammate. “Seeing names other than his with each new list for the France team, while he was performing very well with us, was frustrating. I think he got tired of waiting. “
Perceived as Basque before being Spanish
Aymeric Laporte has never digested that Didier Deschamps prefers Adil Rami for the 2018 World Cup – but also Presnel Kimpembe and the reservists Kurt Zouma and Mamadou Sakho – behind the Raphaël Varane-Samuel Umtiti hinge. At 27, he was convinced by a Spain still looking for a successor to Gerard Piqué, since the Catalan’s international retirement in 2018.
“If Laporte had not preferred to play for France, he would have been in the Spanish selection for a long time. His recruitment for the post where La Roja is most lacking is not a surprise ”, says Jordi Osua Quintana, doctor of sports science at the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia.
Before becoming Spanish, Aymeric Laporte became Basque. When he was spotted in Agen at the age of 15, the left-hander had to assert a Basque origin – his grandfather – and complete his training in the region, at Aviron bayonnais, a partner club of Athletic Bilbao, then in Baskonia, his team C, to enter into the very selective criteria for recruiting leones (the “lions”, in Basque). It takes that to become the second French after Bixente Lizarazu to wear this red and white jersey.
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