Pellegrini 'makes' Paul an 'elephant'

Seville, 24 Mar The Ivorian Paul Akouokou is one of those footballers who could well stay on the proclaimous path of football globetrotters and who fall into a place and hands, like Betis by Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, where they take care of him, polish his flaws, temper his impulses, give him confidence and turn him into ' elephant', international by Ivory Coast. The first call of the 'Elephants' coach, the Frenchman Patrice Beaumelle, for friendly matches against France, tomorrow at the Velodrome in Marseille, and next Tuesday, March 29 against England at Wembley, is the culmination of a month, the last, in which the Ivorian midfielder has more than shown what he can give of himself. Paul Akuoku landed in the Betis youth academy in November 2018 from the Hapoel of the second Israeli, the last stop of a footballer who had already played Beitar in Jerusalem, through a failed test in the Angers of the French Ligue 1, the Finnish Ekenas and the Majestic of Burkina Faso, where he started his career and made the leap to Europe in 2016. The 24-year-old midfielder came to the Baetico team with twenty and a lot of progress, and began that process that rarely ends up in the elite at the hands of coaches like José Juan Romero, then at Betis Deportivo and today at Eldense, whom the Ivorian thanked when he congratulated him on his call with the national team. This came to the powerful Abidjan midfielder after Manuel Pellegrini macerated his Akouokou virtues, polished his flaws and gave him the starting shirt and played almost everything in the last league matches against Athletic Bilbao and Celta de Vigo. Akouokou's breakthrough has been gradual in the last month and has its starting point in the half hour he played against Sevilla at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on February 27, replacing the Argentine Guido Rodríguez, for whom the Ivorian has been a natural substitute in the verdiblanco defensive midfielder. It was precisely Guido who replaced him against Atlético de Madrid and who shared a contention line ahead of the defense against Athletic Bilbao and Celta de Vigo, matches in which the defensive virtues of the Ivorian, his tactical sense and a physical display tempered by Pellegrini have emerged. This was perhaps the greatest advance in the Chilean's work with Paul, whose inexperience and impulsiveness cost him yellow cards in his first ten matches this season, in which an injury caused him not to register for the Europa League qualifying phase. Paul, with a contract until 2024, had played until his last outbreak a match against the Celtic Glasgow in European competition, another in the Copa del Rey against the Alicante Independiente and a few minutes in the league against Real Sociedad, after which he entered a phase of physical problems that hindered his growth. The Ivorian now poses proudly on social networks with the two kits of his team and in training with the 'Elephants' that he could see so far away when he made his debut at Villamarín on September 25, 2020 in the 92nd minute against Valladolid in place of the Portuguese William Carvalho: today the two share ownership and internationalities.