Former Paris Saint-Germain player and coach Antoine Kombouaré experienced the Parisian evening with rare intensity during the Champions League final between PSG and Inter Milan. Providing commentary for M6, the Kanak couldn’t hold back his tears at the culmination of twelve years of service to the club, as he revealed in Le Parisien. A victory felt as one shared by all generations of PSG.
Kombouaré: “While commentating, I was thinking of all those generations who had worked tirelessly to build PSG.”
“With every goal, I jumped to my feet. It was impossible to stay seated. I was shouting with joy. I had tears in my eyes,” explained the Kanak. “You know, I spent twelve years at this club. Twelve years of my life. Player, reserve team coach, and even the first coach of the Qatari era. While commentating, I was thinking of all those generations who had worked tirelessly to build PSG.” And I mustn’t forget those we never talk about: the stewards.
Kombouaré: “I cried at the stadium and I admit it.”
“I cried at the stadium and I admit it. When I saw those kids running around, hugging each other. I was happy for Marquinhos, who had gone through the hell of the comeback. And then I was able to go down onto the pitch. I said a few words to Luis Enrique and Nasser. We were all Parisians. Nasser gently whispered to me: ‘Thank you, coach, it’s with you, you’re part of the family.’ Simple things, but they warm the heart.”
This emotion is genuine. It’s raw, almost physical, because it’s been fueled by waiting. Years of hoping without daring to fully believe, of enduring disappointments, heartbreaking evenings, and broken promises. When Paris Saint-Germain finally reached this pinnacle, everything came flooding back. The suppressed joys, the pent-up anger, the silences after the painful defeats.
This momentous day doesn’t belong solely to the players or the staff; it belongs to the fans who persevered, sometimes against the tide, sometimes mocked, often impatient. The waiting lent weight to every shout, every tear, every embrace in the stands or in front of a screen. Without this long period of hardship, the emotion wouldn’t have been so intense. It’s precisely because it took so long that this joy is so profound, so collective, so impossible to contain. A liberation more than a simple victory.
