This Tuesday (16), France, one of the big favorites, debuts in the 2026 World Cup against Senegal, at 4 pm (Brasília time), at the MetLife Stadium, in New Jersey. The duel will be broadcast on CazéTV, at no extra cost on Disney+.
To start the tournament in a positive way, Les Bleus are betting on the eye for goal and the plays of striker Michael Olise, author of an overwhelming season at Bayern Munich, with 22 goals and 26 assists in 52 games.
Very participative within the four lines, the right-winger has a reputation for his reserved temperament and extremely introverted personality, avoiding contact with journalists, fans, sponsors and even teammates.
However, a Brazilian is well aware of the details of the “most mysterious man” in France: former midfielder Felipe Araruna, trained at São Paulo, who followed Olise’s emergence at Reading, in England.
The two played together for the English team between 2019 and 2021, a phase in which the current Bleus standout was taking his first steps from youth to the main team — it’s worth remembering that, even wearing the France shirt, Olise was born in London.
In an interview with ESPN, Araruna said that the right-winger always stood out for his high technical level, but he was also closed to personal relationships.
“Olise has always been a very technically different guy. At the time I was there (at Reading), he was rising from youth to professional level, but he was always a guy with a very strong personality”, recalled the former tricolor player.
“He has always been a very strong, fast and skilled guy. It seemed like he already knew from a young age that he would become a great player, that’s the truth. But he was also always extremely introverted,” he added.
“When I see some memes that come out of him hiding when arriving at the stadiums, or going to the field, setting foot and returning to the locker room, it’s something that has always been his characteristic: being introverted, with few friends,” he observed.
“Olise even had two, three players closest to him, as they lived together, but he wasn’t a guy who sought out a lot of conversation with others. So, after many years of not seeing him and now that I see him all the time, because he’s become mainstream, he’s in the big clubs, in the big championships, maybe he’s one of the best in the world… His behavior doesn’t surprise me at all,” he added.
I have rarely seen someone with so much potential
Olise had few opportunities when he became professional at Reading in the 2018/19 season, but gained more space from 2019/20 onwards.
The striker really exploded in the 2020/21 season, with 7 goals and 12 assists in 46 matches, which led Crystal Palace, a club known for its good scouting work, to sign him for just 8.37 million pounds (R$56.62 million, at current prices).
According to Araruna, who played for almost a decade at São Paulo between youth and professional categories, he has rarely encountered a player with such high potential.
“It’s difficult to say that I saw a possible Ballon d’Or there, because Olise was just starting his career. But, from the experiences I had at other big clubs, he was always the most different player I saw”, he highlighted.
“Technically speaking, I’ve seen and worked with few people who had as much potential and as much technical ability as Michael. That’s why Reading have always believed so much in him,” he stressed.
Despite being quiet, Olise was not exactly simple to manage, especially for the coaching staff.
“He was never an easy guy to deal with. Despite being introspective, he always had a strong personality from a young age. That’s why I was never very close to him either, and most of the cast couldn’t even get close”, he commented.
“Off the field, he was a calm guy, if you asked him to talk, he would talk without any problem, but he had a strong personality. He believed he was the best, that he had the ball to always play as a starter… And, when you’re coming up from the base and you’re young, you don’t always play”, he explained.
“On the other hand, Michael was always the guy who never felt important games. Even at such a young age, he could play any game very solidly and was very mature when a more important confrontation came”, he recalled.
For Araruna, self-confidence helped Olise a lot on her journey towards the top of world football.
“He always wanted to play, and when he didn’t play, he was clearly dissatisfied. This is normal within any football club, even more so in a club with great talents. But he was never a guy, from my point of view, who was problematic in that sense,” he said.
“He always had a strong personality. From an early age, he always wanted to play and contribute. No wonder, that same personality took him to where he is today”, he concluded.
It improved decision making
According to the former São Paulo native, Olise’s main advance in recent years occurred in decision-making.
According to the former midfielder, the winger never left the field, but made many mistakes when attempting individual plays.
“Olise has always been a very risky guy. He took a lot of risks on the wing, because of his speed and dribbling characteristics. Today, I see that his decision-making has improved a lot. Today, he makes a lot less mistakes than before”, he detailed.
“Now, he can finish plays in an incredible way when he’s in the final third. He’s always had good finishing in training, but we know that, in the game, it’s different. So, he’s evolved a lot in terms of decision-making as well,” he concluded.
For Araruna, Olise is now a complete athlete who enchants those who follow his matches.
“Michael has always been an artistic guy. I think that might be the word that best defines him: the player who makes everyone’s eyes shine”, he praised.
Where to watch the World Cup?
All World Cup games will be broadcast live on CazéTV, available at no additional cost on Disney+.