Wilguens Paugain #24

Profile

Paugain’s CV reads like a movie script: born in extreme poverty in Thomazeau in Haiti he was adopted aged five by a family in rural France and was spotted by Nancy-Lorraine aged 12. However, he suffered a serious injury at 18 that derailed his career, forced him out of the game for eight months, cost him the chance of a professional contract and pushed him to work for a while delivering pizzas. But he fought back, and proceeded to play his way through dressing rooms scattered across Cyprus, Latvia and Austria, each stop adding a new layer to his game, before reaching Belgium. Paugain is the kind of full-back who sprints first and thinks later, but his instinct is normally proved right. He mixes raw athleticism with a growing technical edge, surging forward as if the touchline were a runway. “This is an opportunity for the world to stop neglecting Haiti,” he says. “When people talk about the country it is natural disasters, political instability and gangs, rarely about anything positive. I hope the World Cup will bring respect back to our team and our country.”

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