_To help celebrate International Women’s Day, we spoke to our No20 about her relationship with her mum - the person she kicks every ball for…_
No-one likes to lose, and **Viviane Asseyi** is no different. After a tough game, the France international gets that frustrated that she won't speak to anyone. Anyone but her mother.
“She has a way to calm me down,” said Asseyi, before miming a hanging up the phone gesture. “I realise I probably get too angry, so then I call her back.”
Asseyi’s mum is the person the 31-year-old opens up to the most. Her mother, Sidonie, raised her as a single parent and the pair have a tight, inseparable bond.
When signing a new contract at West Ham United women’s team in the summer of 2024, Asseyi’s mum was also in attendance at Chadwell Heath, watching on proudly as her daughter extended her stay as a Hammer.
“It’s because of her that I can play, she’s done a lot for me to help me in my career,” said Asseyi.
“If she said ‘no’ when I said ‘can I have this ball? I want to play football’, I would never be where I am. She gave me everything.
“When I grew up, I grew up only with her - without my dad - so she had to do everything. She had to be the mum, the dad, the uncle, everything. It wasn’t easy for her.
“All of the time I want to fight for her and give back to her. I know I can’t give back the same as she gave to me, because she gave me birth, but I do all I can to make her happy. I know when I score, when the team wins, it makes her happy. She’s my motivation every day.
“She will call me every day, but I like it because I grew up with her and it’s not easy when you’re away from home.
“She will also call me after every game. If we lose or if I’ve had a bad game, I get so angry. I hate to lose. So after those sorts of games I won’t speak to anyone, but the only person who can make me calm is her.
“She’s the person I will talk the most to about my emotions because she can manage them. She’s my motivation, but I wouldn’t speak to her about football because she knows nothing about tactics or anything like that!”
Sidonie keeps up with every Irons result and tries to attend as many matches as she can while living in Normandy, the town in which she raised Asseyi.
The women’s team forward, who has nine goals in all competitions this term, began her career at local side US Quevilly - and her legacy lives on at the club where it all started as they have a plaque with her name engraved into it, enforcing how important it is for young, aspiring players to have prevalent female role models.
“I almost don’t realise how much of an impact we can have on the young ones,” she said.
“During the international break, I went back to my hometown in France and I saw all of the young girls looking at me with big eyes, asking me questions. We are an inspiration to them, but I can’t imagine that. For me, I’m just Viviane Asseyi.
“It’s important for me to go back. It’s where I started, it’s where I come from.
“I see it when I score, when we win, how happy people are. You can see it on their faces. And that is an inspiration for me to keep going all of the time.”
Asseyi and the rest of the women’s team are an inspiration to the next generation of football fans. But which empowering females inspired Asseyi in her youth?
“Serena Williams,” she replied, instantly. “I loved watching her because she had to face bad comments, people saying ‘you’re not good enough’, but all of the time she would win.
“I would also say Marta. I played against her twice, which was an unbelievable experience.”
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