For 16-year-old twin brothers Nicolas and Baptiste Kutran, playing for New Caledonia at the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship in Tahiti means more than representing their country.
The boys, who moved from Lifou in New Caledonia to Bordeaux in France with their mother and older brother Ruben when they were four, are following in Ruben’s footsteps 20 months after his sudden death.
Main photo: Nicolas (left) and Baptiste Kutran. Photo credit: OFC Media / DJ Mills / Phototek.
The brothers grew up in Bordeaux and have been part of the academy system at Girondins de Bordeaux.
Ruben, five years older than his siblings, captained New Caledonia at the OFC U-16 Championship in 2018 and played at Girondins de Bordeaux from 2017 to 2022.
Without warning, he collapsed and died on the field in December 2022 at the age of 20.
“At the beginning, it was a little hard to live with,” said Nicolas, the goalkeeper for the current New Caledonia U-16 side.
“But then we started to get back on track. Afterward, we were able to overcome that with football and we started to love football more to make him happy,” Baptiste said.
“We use his memory to become stronger and he is always in our thoughts.”
The twins first represented New Caledonia at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia, and both players have dreams of making it as professionals.
Nicolas dreams of playing at Aston Villa and Baptiste at Crystal Palace, “because they have a great academy. I like the way they play; the players are well-trained, and I like the philosophy of Crystal Palace from the academy.”
“My dream is to be professional and to live football, breathe football,” Baptiste said.
The twins started playing football in France when they were seven, but stopped for a few years and played futsal, returning to football aged 11.
Nicolas was attracted to being a goalkeeper while playing indoor football and has been in goal since. His favourite goalkeeper is Olympique Lyonnais shot stopper Anthony Lopes.
Jokingly, the players say they are not inspired by New Caledonia’s favourite son, Christian Karembeu, “because I want more trophies than him,” Baptiste says.
(Karembeu won the FIFA World Cup in 1998, and UEFA Champions League twice with Real Madrid, European Championship and the French Ligue 1 title among other achievements.)
Baptiste acknowledges he has a long way to go to fulfil his dreams, needing to develop both physically and mentally.
The twins are revelling in being part of the New Caledonia squad under coach Leo Lopez.
“To come to Tahiti to play with the boys and represent the team is good. It’s our generation and it’s always a pleasure to represent the country, plus it’s an opportunity to go and make the people proud.”
The New Caledonia team has come together at a time of great uncertainty in the country with ongoing civil unrest, which has made football secondary for many New Caledonians.
This has fuelled the twins’ motivation to try to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.
“I’m disappointed because New Caledonia doesn’t deserve that. It’s a wonderful country, beautiful and heavenly. We don’t deserve this at all. And I could say that it is a strength for me and my team to qualify and make the country proud,” Nicolas said.
The future is somewhat uncertain for the twins.
Their club, one of the oldest in France, has been relegated to the fourth tier of French football and has lost its professional status, with all player contracts cancelled.
“It’s difficult because it’s like a crystal ball. We spoke with Bordeaux, and the players must find another club,” New Caledonia U-17 coach Leo Lopez said.
Acknowledgement
We are grateful for the help of OFC Media in providing information for this story.
Fixtures
Games to be played on August 5, 2024 (NZT)
Group B
Solomon Islands v New Caledonia
Stade Pater, Pirae, Tahiti, 1pm (NZT)
Samoa v Tahiti
Stade Pater, Pirae, Tahiti, 4pm (NZT)
This story was first published on August 5, 2024.
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