PSG: 5 experts tell the phenomenon Marie-Antoinette Katoto

Everything was already bringing them together. This is even more the case since Sunday, December 13, 2020. A week after Kylian Mbappé, who reached the 100-goal mark with PSG in Montpellier, it is Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s turn to imitate him. By scoring a quadruple against Le Havre in the league on Sunday, the 22-year-old striker raised her tally to 103 goals in the Paris jersey in just 112 games.

Like Mbappé, Katoto is used to the precocity records. At PSG since 2011, this pure Ile-de-France who grew up in the Grèves district of Colombes started football at 6, scored 15 goals in U19 Nationals at 15, signed her first pro contract and started in the Champions League at 16 before winning Euro U19 at 17. Top scorer in women’s D 1 for two seasons and started on the same basis (9 goals in 10 days), the international tricolor (15 caps) is not about to stop on such a good path according to the five great witnesses who rubbed shoulders with her closely.

“It’s all the more impressive because she’s a very altruistic player”

Farid Benstiti, former PSG coach from 2012 to 2016, now OL Reign coach since January 2020

It was Farid Benstiti who launched Marie-Antoinette Katoto in D1 and in the Champions League at 16, before signing her first professional contract of five years. “Because it was a safe bet,” says the coach of OL Reign, an American club bought by Lyon. I took her out of the Pôle France de Clairefontaine to integrate her into the pro group and allow her to gauge herself. It was a difficult decision, but one that served him well. She already had impressive potential, even if she had to work physically to reach a milestone. She has made a lot of progress on her investments in particular. It reminds me of players like Lotta Schelin or Lindsay Horan who I also had very young. Marie will have the same trajectory. 100 goals in 112 games is all the more impressive as she is a very altruistic player who thinks of the team above all. It’s not the a goal hunter, she is first and foremost a footballer. I never put pressure on her to score at any cost, it came naturally. She has followed her path and she is not going to stop there. She is truly an international player. “

“Records are made to be broken”

Marie-Laure Delie, former PSG player (2007-2008 and 2013-2018)

Marie-Laure Delie, retired this year, remains the top scorer in the history of PSG, where she played during the 2007-2008 season and then between 2013 and 2018, with 134 goals. A record that Marie-Antoinette Katoto should beat, which the former spearhead of the Parisian attack and the Blues saw hatch. “In my day, she was still a player in the making, but she had already proven herself. Besides, she had two big injuries when I was playing with her. It’s good that she got over it all. She continues on her momentum, I’m happy for her. Today, it has become a part of PSG and the France team. Physically, she was imposing. She had the complete set to become a great striker and have a great career. This is just the beginning. She left on a huge basis, I hope it will continue for her. My record? I didn’t even know the exact number of goals I scored at PSG. Records are made to be broken. It’s rewarding to mark the history of a club, as I was able to do at PSG or Montpellier, or the France team. I hope Marie will continue to write hers with PSG and the selection. “

“She’s the queen of the surface”

Patrice Lair, former Parisiennes coach from 2016 to 2018

Patrice Lair made Marie-Antoinette Katoto a full holder at PSG. “When I discovered her when I arrived, she was mainly playing with the under 19s, I said to myself straight away: she’s a gem. If she’s not injured for the Champions League final (Editor’s note: defeat on penalties against Lyon in 2017), it is not the same. Today, his talent is exploding. She improved in head and back-to-goal play. She is able to carry the ball, to wait for the block-team to rise, to put away. She plays a lot fairer. Then she kept her finishing qualities, her power, her two feet. Today, she is the No. 1 French attacker. She passed over everyone. She understood that to take an extra step, it was also necessary to show in the locker room. She asserts herself. This is what also makes great attackers. It was no longer Marie who bowed her head at the slightest little thing. She is the queen of the surface, she takes the others with her shopping. Like Ada Hegerberg ( Editor’s note: Norwegian striker from Lyon, first female Ballon d’Or in history in 2018), everyone is suspicious of it. She will walk on Europe and the world with the selection. “

“With Kylian and Marie, we have two future Golden Balls”

Bernard Mendy, former PSG defender from 2000 to 2008 and assistant coach of women since December 2017

Bernard Mendy is very close to Marie-Antoinette Katoto, whom he advises and protects. “She has turned a corner. We expected her especially in the big games, and she scored the winning goal against Lyon (1-0), as she had already done in the final of the Coupe de France 2018. She must be even more killer, I keep telling him. Marie must be even more obsessed with the goal, as is Kylian, who is now branching out by making more and more assists. This kid is a phenomenon! 100 goals in 112 games, in just four seasons, is exceptional. Can you name a player who did this? Other than Kylian. Marie follows in her footsteps. Today, we have two future Golden Balls. Knowing that they will mature even more. She is in full confidence because the club is behind her, the staff, the players. Then it’s a good little one. OK, she has her character, like all great strikers, but she is lovable and easy to deal with. She is a true leader at heart who should assert herself even more. “

“We wonder where it will stop”

Jessica Houara-d’Hommeaux, consultant for Canal +, former PSG player from 2009 to 2016

Jessica Houara-d’Hommeaux played at PSG from 2009 to 2016, alongside Marie-Antoinette Katoto, before meeting her in Lyon from 2016 to 2018. “I knew her very young in Paris, but she was already very impressive. It is a logical continuation that it got there so early. 100 goals in 112 games is quite exceptional. We wonder where it will stop. It reminds me of Ada Hegerberg, who also arrived very young at the top level and who continues to do extraordinary things. Marie is of the same caliber. I wish him to have the Ballon d’Or one day. Technically, she has it all, the right foot, the head game. She has always had undeniable qualities that she was not necessarily able to fully express, especially in big games. She has taken a mental step. Now, even against the big defenders, she no longer has an inferiority complex. She has realized that she can hurt any defense, that she can turn the tide of a match on her own. She takes more weight at PSG, she talks a lot more on the pitch. Even in selection, Marie is one of the latest arrivals and still among the youngest, and yet she has spoken in the last meetings. She dared to say what she felt. It is a great strength of character. She knows that she will be led to be more and more in the light. She needs to feel confident to show her true face. “