Interview with Philip Zialor - ‘I want to share my footballing experience’ |06 October 2015

Every once in a while, there comes along an athlete who really leaves a lasting impression, where his legacy and name is remembered throughout time, even among those who were never really fans of the sport.

For this particular athlete, it all started with the Sunshine Football Club. As a young man he came through the ranks to become one of the most talked about local footballers of his generation. He is most remembered for his time leading the attacking line for St Michel United and for his dead-ball skills, highlighted by his winning free-kick against Zimbabwe in Seychelles’ 2-1 victory back in 2003.

You have probably guessed it by now and if your hunch was that we are talking about Phillip Zialor… you were right!

Sports Nation caught up with the now 39-year-old Zialor to get his views on what exactly he has been doing during the past six years since he left the sport he loves.

“I have not been involved in football much since I decided to stop playing,” said Zialor.

He added: “I did study for a first coaching license but then I found it difficult to do the others because of my work commitment.”

Zialor, who retired at the age of just 33, described his playing career as “great”, since he managed to win a good number of trophies with St Michel as well as being voted player of the year on three separate occasions.

“There were quite a lot of moments that I fondly look back upon, although my best memory has to be when I scored the last minute equaliser to complete a brace against Red Star in the final match of the 2000 season to help us (St Michel) win the league title,” he added.

Many people would feel that a player of Zialor’s ability would have been able to make it at professional level and he revealed that before his retirement, he had the chance to play in Bahrain.

He said: “I went to play in Bahrain and that was where I picked up a cruciate ligament injury and after that I couldn’t really play anymore, so I decided to quit football altogether.”

Being a striker, Zialor has faced a lot of challenges on the pitch in terms of going up against other players. One defender in particular that Zialor recalls gave him a very hard time on the pitch is Malagasy defender Edmond Robert. Zialor describes him as a “really great player”.

In Europe, we often talk of strike partnerships and we know of successful trios like Barcelona’s Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi as well as Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema making the headlines. There have also been some great striking duos as well such as Arsenal’s Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, Manchester United’s Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole as well as Liverpool’s Micheal Owen and Robbie Fowler.

For Zialor, his best strike partner was of course with his long-time friend Alpha Baldé who has also retired from the sport, but still plays beach soccer.

“We have been friends for a long time and though we did not play together much, when we got onto the pitch we just clicked and knew exactly what each other was thinking,” he stated.

“He was a magnificent player although I did play with some other great players like Ralph Jean-Louis who really helped me when I joined St Michel,” he added.

With Seychelles playing Burundi tomorrow, Zialor gave us his thought on the state of Seychelles football at the moment.

“I think that the national team should always have a group of players who form the backbone of the side,” said Zialor who made famous the number 13.

“Meaning, the team should be able to meet at least once every week to train and not train only when there are competitions,” he noted.

Zialor also added that the Seychelles Football Federation should look to offer the players some incentives to encourage them to be part of the team.

“Nowadays, everyone tells you that they cannot train as they have to work, but back then we had to work too, but we still found time to meet and train,” he pointed out.

Finally, Seychelles’ most prolific goal scorer said he does not yet have any plans to get back into football but should he be approached to help in the future, then it would be something he would consider as he really wants to share his experience with other players of the beautiful game.

S. N.