We were a family who had come from nothing and now we had respect from French people of all sorts.

I was lucky to come from a difficult area. It teaches you not just about football but also life. There were lots of kids from different races and poor families. People had to struggle to get through the day.

They were nothing like the French people I had imagined. If anything, they were too kind, too generous and too knowledgable in the fields of plumbing and electricity.

I am proud of where I come from and never forget the people I grew up with. Wherever I go, La Castellane is where I want to go back to.

I have decided to come back for Les Bleus.

They have a saying, the French, that no woman, can be truly beautiful who is not also sometimes truly ugly.