The African defender spoke for the official website of Panathinaikos and said that he is “hungry” for football. These were his statements:
-You have played in top championships such as the English, the German and the French one. How did you decide to come to Greece?
“I was looking for a new challenge. I spoke with the coach who explained me his plan and to where he would like to get with Panathinaikos. It is a very interesting project. The team’s roster has very competent players. I have played against Panathinaikos, some years ago when I was a player of Dynamo Moscow. I have played in a stadium which had an extraordinary ambience and fans that seemed to enjoy. So I said “why not?” to come and play in a well known and good team which has many fans, in a beautiful country like Greece. I wanted to be part of this Club”.
-What are you expecting from yourself and from the team?
“I have many things to prove. I was absent during almost the whole last season so I feel “hungry” for football! I have many things to do and would like to give the best of me, for me, my family, the fans of Panathinaikos and the people in the Club. I want them to feel proud for me, keeping many good memories from my presence here”.
-It is rare for a player with such a career to mention that he has many things yet to prove…
“Well, this is something normal for me. For about a year I stayed away from what I loved most, from what I was doing since I was a child playing at football in the streets. Because of my injury I had to stay away for a long period, being obliged to watch football from a tv set. I really missed playing. So it is a really great opportunity for me to play again and to do what I know best: to scare again the rival strikers!”.
-What should the fans of Panathinaikos expect from Christopher Samba?
“I will give 100% in every game. Nothing will be fake. I am what you see. Real. In every moment, in every game I aim to give everything. I am not scared to bleed, to sweat, even not to have some bones … broken! Nothing scares me”.
-Did you have an impression about Panathinaikos before coming here?
“I have spoken to Gordon Schildenfeld with whom we were teammates in Dynamo Moscow and he told me how nice things were in Panathinaikos and how much he enjoyed Greece. I also remember that I talked a lot with Marcus Berg waiting at the doping control room after the match between Panathinaikos and Dynamo Moscow. He told me that everything in Panathinaikos was really nice. Of course I spoke to the coach who told me the very best. So having three positive opinions out of three, it was logical to be positively influenced. Actually the color of the team’s shirt was like lighting a green light for me to join the team!” .
