“Today I’m proud because I’ve progressed a lot,” Dayot Upamecano says as he reflects on finding his voice and overcoming the fear that rippled through him when he had to speak up at school. The Bayern Munich centre-back, an important figure for France during their run to the final of the 2022 World Cup, was eight when he first experienced problems with his speech and he has not forgotten the taunts that would fly in his direction during childhood.
“I was very scared,” Upamecano admits on a still afternoon at Clairefontaine, France’s celebrated training centre. “When you have a stammer as a kid you’re scared to talk because people will make fun of you. It’s difficult to distance yourself from it. You say to yourself all the time: ‘If I talk people will make fun.’ You don’t want to go up to the blackboard, or communicate in general, because you know people will be mocking you.”
