Nîmes Olympique: Selmane El Hamri, the perseverant

Selmane El Hamri, ici face à Versailles, a fait six apparitions en National depuis le début de saison. Midi Libre – Mikaël ANISSET

Pour l’instant joker en National, l’ailier de Nîmes Olympique Selmane El Hamri devrait être titulaire samedi à Aimargues, lors du 5e tour de Coupe de France.

He only played a little over an hour in total (63 minutes exactly) but he was the substitute who most often came into play. Selmane El Hamri came off the bench six times since the start of the season. “Each time, he brought the team his freshness and his carefree attitude”, appreciates Adil Hermach.

His first start, the 24-year-old left-hander should celebrate it on Saturday in the Coupe de France against Aimargues. “A good memory” for the pocket player (1.72m, 65kg). Last season, during the 8-0 success of the Nîmes reserve team on the pitch of the bottom team of Regional 1 (group A), he scored a hat-trick.

"A shot from very far away, a shot with the flat of the foot on a cross from Marowane (Khalid) and a shot in the left top corner", recalls the native of Puy-en-Velay, who finished the 2023-2024 season as the top scorer of the crocodile 2 team with 14 goals.

A license amateur

Moved up to the pro group, Selmane El Hamri has not changed status, he still plays with an amateur license. He therefore still has no salary, living off his unemployment. He assumes and explains: “By coming to Nîmes last season, I started from scratch. But I had liked the coach's speech too much (Adil Hermach) and his game plan. Playing ball, having fun, that's what I needed, even if it was in R1."

If the father of Leyna, two years old, made this "big sacrifice compared to (his) family", it's of course because he had the hope of signing a pro contract "in a corner of (his) head". That's why he stayed in the off-season, despite financially interesting prospects in National 2 and National 3. "I don't want to have any regrets. If it doesn't work out, I'll be at peace in my head, I'll have tried everything."

"Selmane is an example for all the youngsters in the reserve. He has a remarkable state of mind, emphasizes Adil Hermach. Last year, he doubled the sessions by going to work in the gym (which allowed him to gain 3 kg of muscle, editor's note). He hardly missed a match. His consistency paid off. If he is in the group today, it is the reward for his work and his good preparation."

Aspirant at the Clermont training center

Selmane El Hamri began his training in Puy-en-Velay and continued it at Clermont Foot, joining the training center at the age of 16. At the end of his aspirant contract (3 seasons), he had his STMG baccalaureate in his pocket but the Auvergne club only offered him an amateur agreement. “I refused it and preferred to go home.”

In the heat of disappointment, he took a break from football before getting back into it at the end of 2019, just before Covid, by signing for… Rousson, then in Regional 1. “I needed to get some fresh air, leave the family cocoon and take charge of my life.”

A creative and good element in small spaces

Since then, he has not left the Gard. After the ASR, with a federal contract at stake (“I lived from football”), he played two seasons in National 3 at Alès – he was part of the promotion to N2 – and one at Beaucaire. Now he is in Nîmes, in the National pro group where he made his big debut against Orléans, on the first day.

“His entries are good. That's what he does, judges the sporting director Sébastien Larcier. He is a creative player who is increasingly important in training. In this athletic championship, he will now have to gain strength to withstand the impact."

Good in small spaces, this winger who likes to play on the wrong foot and as a free electron is "a destabilizing player, very comfortable with the ball, adds Adil Hermach. He moves very well and is capable of scoring. It's up to him to continue working, to become more consistent, to not believe that things are acquired, to go and find what he lacks to get through this."

Not on a stroll in Aimargues

This is El Hamri's intention: “I work very hard and I stay focused on the field where I enjoy training every day, with the aim of taking what there is to take.” The Nîmes winger, who believes that Nîmes “has nothing to envy anyone" but is still waiting for a “small " to really get his season off to a good start, will have some playing time in the Coupe de France to show what he is capable of.

Saturday's meeting in Aimargues, on "a good synthetic pitch", is not a foregone conclusion, he warns. "We're not going to go for a stroll, that's impossible. We're going to come up against a motivated team. We will win by being serious."

Coupe de France (5th round): Aimargues (R2) – Nîmes (N) this Saturday, October 10 at 5 p.m. at the René-Dupont stadium. I subscribe to read the rest