In an interview with Fox Deportes, Ousmane Dembélé, the 28-year-old Paris Saint-Germain and French national team striker, expressed clear confidence in his current form and personal development. The French international also reiterated a key point: talent alone is not enough without a strong team structure and shared commitment.
Dembélé: “I have a lot more experience”
“I have a lot more experience, and the level I’ve been at since last season is much better. A lot of things have changed in football and in my personal life. It’s all positive. I’m much calmer, much more thoughtful. I hope to maintain this level. I’m happy. I’m clearly in the best part of my career. I’ve gained a huge amount of experience, both in football and in my life. I know myself, I know what I have to do.”
Dembélé: “I hope to be on this list and do very well at this World Cup”
Playing in a World Cup isn’t an everyday occurrence. It’s an honor for a professional footballer; it’s where you find the best players and the best teams. I hope to be on this list and do very well at this World Cup. I’m very excited about what’s to come.
We’re mainly focused on ourselves. It’s been like that for several years. There’s a group of players who know each other. We’ll need to be particularly good as a team. There isn’t really any pressure because we were underdogs in 2018 and we won that trophy. We were also one of the favorites in Qatar and we reached the final. We’re used to all of this. There’s a lot of calm.
Dembélé: “You can have all the best players in the world, but if you don’t have a structured and united team, it won’t work.”
“There are some incredible individual talents. But you can have all the best players in the world, but if you don’t have a structured and united team, it won’t work. That’s what we’ll be focusing on most. The team comes first. We’re preparing well for this World Cup and we hope to go all the way,” he said, as reported by RMC Sport.
Dembélé’s speech is significant for both Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team: we hear a player who is finally fully embracing his status, without any hype or unnecessary drama. He speaks with confidence, but also with a kind of self-control that contrasts sharply with the more inconsistent image that has long surrounded him.
This is where the message becomes interesting: yes, he feels he’s in the best period of his career, but he refuses to make it an individual achievement. On the contrary, he emphasizes structure, cohesion, and collective discipline. In short, confidence is welcome, almost necessary, but it won’t protect anyone if the shared framework cracks.
In a World Cup year, this reminder is as apt as it is useful. Ultimately, what’s most reassuring isn’t perhaps his current level of performance, but the way he talks about it. Dembélé isn’t selling empty promises: he’s showing that he now understands that a major tournament rewards solid teams, not mere additions of talent.
