Hardworking and passionate about futsal, Montpellier coach Mohamed Nezlioui is the architect of the MMF's success

Mohamed Nezlioui dans gradins de Coubertin. Midi Libre – LF

Montpellier reçoit le champion de France Laval au Palais des sports Pierre-de-Coubertin, samedi à 21h. Portrait du technicien nordiste arrivé cet été dans l’Hérault.

Saturday evening (9pm), the party will be great for the reception of Laval, double reigning French champion, and its pleiad of French internationals. The faces of the MMF players will be displayed in large on the walls of the hall in the Mosson district. Like that of the coach Mohamed Nezlioui, one of the main architects of the successful start of the season of the MMF, fifth in the ranking for its return to the elite.

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The 37-year-old from the North is a reference in French futsal as a professional player, first in Belgium then in France in Roubaix, Laval, Toulouse, Lille and Béthune. “I immediately got hooked on futsal because this sport requires intelligence of play, technical qualities, it is spectacular”, he explains.

Whether he is a leader or a winger, he has often been named captain during his career. So when he became coach in 2021, it was obvious: “It was on my mind but I didn't think I would become one so quickly,” he continues. “The fact of supporting, helping, and seeing players develop drives me. I have always dreamed of setting up the framework that I have in my head.”

Diaoune: “It's thanks to him”

In Montpellier, he has the trust of the management to work in his own way. In his luggage, he came with players he knows well. This is the case of the captain of the French U21s Mohamed Diaoune (21 years old) who has been following him for four seasons already: “The coach is a hard worker who likes to help his players progress, underlines the MMF recruit. Humanly, he is someone endearing, he advises a lot even outside of futsal, he manages to find the right words for me to surpass myself. And then when it was necessary, he pushed me a lot, he put my ideas back in place several times. If I am here, at the best French level, it is thanks to him.”

He also arrived in Hérault this summer to join the project led by Mohamed Nezlioui, Naoufel Aberkan, French international U23, knows what he owes to a coach he knew in Lille. “Mohamed lives futsal, eats futsal, sleeps futsal. And sometimes, it even stops him from sleeping (laughs), says Naoufel Aberkan. I owe him a lot, he brought me back to the highest level, he was a springboard for me.”