A new global talent in the French national team, Michael Olise, has attracted attention not only for his exceptional ability on the field, but also for his peculiar posture. In Brazil, the striker gained recent notoriety for his reaction contained in a video, where he preferred not to name the best player on the Brazilian team.

This characteristic of saying little and being direct had already transformed the 24-year-old athlete into an internet phenomenon in 2022. At the time, after scoring a decisive goal in the 49th minute of the second half that guaranteed Crystal Palace’s victory in the English Championship, his response was extremely concise.

Asked about the crucial moment, Olise simply declared: “I shot. It was a goal.”

Olise’s uniqueness on the field and in front of the cameras will face a significant test starting this Tuesday, in the clash against Senegal, scheduled for 4pm, in New Jersey. Even in a squad full of stars such as Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, the French number 11 emerges as one of the possible highlights of the World Cup.

In a recent interview with Highsnobiety magazine, which was Olise’s only post on his Instagram account over the course of a month, the striker explained his minimalist approach to social media, where he maintains few posts and only follows 23 profiles.

He justified his strategy by stating: “If I want to post, I post. If I don’t want to, I don’t post. It’s purely organic.”

The discreet way Olise behaves in interviews reflects his style when celebrating goals, many of them true works of art, whether defending Bayern Munich, his current club, or the France national team. He notably refrains from celebrating net swings.

“I’m not a super emotional person. I don’t react the same way everyone else reacts,” he explained to Highsnobiety, in one of the rare exclusive interviews that Olise gave.

Born in London, England, Olise is the son of a Nigerian father and a French-Algerian mother, which gave him the option of playing for four different teams. However, his choice of France was motivated by a deep emotional and historical connection.

He revealed the reasons for his decision: “The players I followed when I was young were French: Zidane, Thierry Henry, Ribéry. And I always came to France when I was a kid. It seemed more natural.”

Michael Olise’s journey from youth clubs to France’s Olympic team

Olise followed a challenging path, passing through the youth ranks of renowned clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City. However, he was released on the grounds that he was “too weak”, which led him to play in the English second division for Reading, where he finally achieved recognition from one of his idols.

With the support of coach Thierry Henry, Olise wore the number 10 shirt and became the main coordinator of the French team, which won the silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Reflecting on the Olympic experience, Olise shared: “It’s difficult to compare club football with the national team. First, it was in France. We had the support of the fans at home. As a football player, you don’t often get the chance to play in the Olympics. Playing with athletes I grew up with at youth level. The coaches. Thierry Henry. It was a fantastic experience.”

Michael Olise’s interests off the field: chess and Japanese philosophy

Away from the pitch, the striker cultivates other hobbies, such as chess, table tennis and cricket, the latter a passion inherited from his father, Wole Olise, who was a player for the Nigeria national cricket team. Interestingly, his most recent defeat in a chess match was to German midfielder Jamal Musiala, his club colleague and also a participant in this World Cup.

Regarding the match, Olise commented with a touch of humor: “He’s not as good as me, but he beat me. I wasn’t concentrating properly. Chess is difficult.”

The French striker also has a tattoo with the Japanese word “kaizen”, which translates as “every day a little more”, symbolizing a constant search for improvement.

He explained the origin and meaning of the tattoo: “It came from a conversation at the Palace training center. One of the coaches was talking about kaizen. After that, I started researching. The idea of ​​improving every day, little by little, until you reach a certain level. I identify with that philosophy.”

This approach seems to encapsulate the essence of Michael Olise: a philosophy that values ​​talking less and dedicating himself to the maximum on the field, seeking continuous improvement every day.