Viviane Asseyi: Zidane Was Her Role Model at Just Four

TVS News AI redaktionell betreut präsentiert Viviane Asseyi: Mit vier Jahren war Zidane das Vorbild.

At the age of four, Viviane Asseyi said she wanted to play like Zidane. For the French player now plying her trade with West Ham Women, this was not merely a childhood fantasy: the 1998 FIFA World Cup ignited her football dream.

The example of the French national team shaped her just as much as her Gabonese heritage. Today, the striker plays in London, where she says she has found a new family both on the pitch and at the club.

For you as a reader, this is a story about the long journey from a big idea to a career of her own making — and about the places that can become part of a personal identity along the way.

How the 1998 World Cup Sparked Her Football Dream

The Catalyst

Asseyi remembers the 1998 World Cup as a formative experience. The French team and Zinedine Zidane embodied the idea of being captivated by your own sport and taking a bold step. The fact that she was already talking about Zidane at the age of four shows how early that enthusiasm took hold within her.

A Role Model with a Certain Catch

For her, the name Zidane did not stand for a great footballer alone. He was apparently present early on in Asseyi's family, and his influence stayed with her for years. She does not describe her beginnings as a vague dream, but as a clear wish: to play like Zidane.

Gabonese Roots and a New Family in East London

Her Heritage

Asseyi describes her Gabonese heritage as an important part of her identity. Her path to becoming a French international and then to West Ham in London thus runs through two cultural roots.

The Club as a New Familial Space

At West Ham, she says she found a new family. That wording emphasizes not only sporting belonging, but also the personal support she found in the club's environment. For a player making a transfer, that support can be decisive when moving from a familiar environment to a new city.

Why Playing Is Not Always Just About Success

The Post-Match Phone Call

After a match, Asseyi calls her mother. By now, this is almost a ritual. After a particularly difficult game, her mother responds with honest criticism — and laughs at the same time.

She was like: “Oh, you were so bad!” She laughed, but that helped me.

For Asseyi, this feedback means familiar honesty. She takes criticism on the chin because her mother also tells her whether she played well or badly, and that she wants to keep working. The call is therefore more than a post-match debrief: it grounds her and gives her a next step.

What Asseyi's Story Reveals About the Path to Your Own Dream

Asseyi's experiences bring together three levels: an early role model, a family that stays honestly self-critical, and a club that becomes a new home in a new city. The 1998 World Cup, Gabon, and East London are not incidental stops along the way, but defining reference points.

For more on football and players who have found their own path between sporting achievement and personal belonging, explore our football guides and the sports section.

Conclusion

Viviane Asseyi's story does not begin with a vague wish, but with a specific name: Zidane. That childhood enthusiasm led her along a path via the French national team and her Gabonese family history to West Ham in East London.

Her description of the phone call with her mother is especially vivid: criticism is not treated as a taboo, but turned into motivation. It is precisely this mix of familial honesty and sporting development that makes her experiences compelling to you — whether you play football yourself or simply want to understand how careers are built behind the scenes.