Before continuing the matches in the elite with Strasbourg and Angers, the striker had a difficult journey. With, in the background, the wounds. Before the reception of Montpellier, Saturday (8 pm) for the 13th day of Ligue 1, the international striker Cameroon back on his journey.
No doubt that tomorrow, when to see the blue and orange colors of Montpellier to enter the lawn of Raymond-Kopa, Stéphane Bahoken will make a happy return to the past. As of March 10, 2013, exactly. That day, for his first tenure with Nice (after 12 entries), he scored his first two goals and offered the victory at the Gym (2-0). "I remember the fervor of the public, making my parents and loved ones at the stadium proud ," he says.
It looks like the beginning of something. "When we are young and we put a double in L1, we can say that our career is launched for good. I imagined myself chaining the matches ... " It will be the opposite. At 21, what should have been a tremendous accelerator in his career will be a first pinnacle that it will take time to reach again. Injuries, mainly muscular, will rot his life. "Every time, I came back, I played without being 100% and I reblessais. Of course, the coach (Claude Puel) had less confidence in me ... "
"At the time, I only had the pro contract"
The rebound goes through a loan, he thinks then. Head for Scotland, St. Mirren, a different football and a new way of life. In contrast, level injuries, nothing changes. After four games, he is already on the sidelines. Rebelotte in January: almost complete disinsertion of the right quadriceps. four months on the flank ... "Scotland was a flop. It was difficult to adapt. Given my age (21), I may not be ready to go to another country alone. " Still positive points, especially in the game In training, " where the intensity is the same as match, " Stephane Bahoken hardens and works his cardio.
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In this summer 2014, this double against Montpellier is far. Two divisions above, for Stéphane Bahoken who bounces in Strasbourg, in National. But the elite is still in a corner of his head. In Strasbourg or elsewhere. "When I signed there, I told myself that I needed to play and score as much as possible before, maybe, to go elsewhere. But in the end, this is where I wanted to stay to finally find the L1. "
This will be the case in August 2017, in Lyon (defeat 4-0), after four years of purgatory, including three in Racing National (2 seasons) and L2 (1). An atypical course ... But paying! "The career plan I set for myself in Nice has changed a lot. Finally, it was beneficial. Now I tell myself that it is bad for a good to be ironed by the National. Everything I have lived serves me. I try to have a more pro behavior. At the time, I only had the pro contract. I stretched less, I was less in the gym, I did less care. You have to work harder to be on top. "
What he does in Angers, where he landed free. Again, his arrival on the banks of the Loire meets a well-defined project. The course of Karl Toko-Ekambi, his partner in Cameroonian selection, inspires him. A first season of discovery to 7 goals before a second, that of confirmation to 17. But it is not only Toko. "I remember the passage of Anthony Modeste (lent by Nice in 2009-2010). He scored 20 goals. The attackers flourish here. For now, the Cameroonian international (3 caps, 1 goal) has scored three times this season (in 9 games and he also delivered 2 assists). An early season, annoyed by two small injuries, he considers "average" . To score against Montpellier would come to enhance the balance sheet. Like the good old times.