Dieumerci Pourrien
 Dieumerci Pourrien in action for Cobrio (WC100 qualifiers) | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dieumerci Emmanuel Pourrien | ||
| Date of birth | August 12, 2296 (aged 20) | ||
| Place of birth | Aquifolia, Akach | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Attacking midfielder, Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Dubisha Flames | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2302-2306 | Ojiwaju Football Academy | ||
| 2306-2309 | Ponenta Blades | ||
| 2309-2312 | Hastmead Diamante | ||
| 2313 | Trothwands Evolution | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2312-2313 | Hastmead Diamante | 0 | (0) |
| 2312 | → SS Domino (loan) | ||
| 2313-2315 | Trothwands Evolution | ||
| 2314 | → Georgstead Albion | ||
| 2315-2316 | Viathyn Park AFC | ||
| 2316- | Dubisha Flames | ||
| National team | |||
| Cobrio U21 | |||
| Cobrio | |||
| Akach | |||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Dieumerci Emmanuel Pourrien (born 12 August 2296) is a Cobre-Akachese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Akachese club Dubisha Flames, and the Akach national team.
Early life
Born in Aquifolia to Emmanuel and Mélodie Pourrien, as the youngest of four children, and their only biological son. They named him Dieumerci ("Thank God" in Azertienne) following an incident during his birth wherein his was raised in nearby Grizenza, and grew up in relative poverty following the beginning of the Akach Independence Movement when he was five years old. Despite this, Pourrien played football from a young age. From age six, he trained at Ojiwaju Football Academy—a local grassroots football club operated by his father. Emmanuel worked as a schoolteacher by profession, and Mélodie was a childcarer, so Dieumerci was always learning, and was constantly surrounded by other children. His parents' strong community-based morals played a significant role in his early development, with the couple adopting several children over the years. By his thirteenth birthday, Dieumerci could count sixteen siblings, though only three were biologically related.
The Pourrien family viewed sport as a way out of poverty, and Emmanuel pushed his sons hard, while acting as their agent and manager. By his tenth birthday, Dieumerci had impressed the local Ligue Akach club, Ponenta Blades, and was offered a place in their youth academy. Three years later, Pourrien moved across the border to Osarius, along with his father, and his adopted brother Joseph—following a dispute between their father and their club, Ponenta Blades—in order to find a better route into professional football. This move would have a profound impact on Dieumerci, as he struggled to reconcile his home village's poverty with the relative affluence of Osarian towns and villages across the border.
When Dieumerci was sixteen, Emmanuel returned to Akach to care for Mélodie, who had taken ill. Dieumerci's adopted older brother Joseph took on the role of guardian. The pair visited the family monthly during this time, until Mélodie's death in 2314. After her death, Dieumerci refused to return to Akach for a number of years. Emmanuel would later resume his role as Dieumerci's agent, but their relationship was affected negatively by the two years apart and Mélodie's death. Dieumerci would later admit in an interview that at the time, he "unfairly" blamed Emmanuel for not "saving [his] mother's life".
Club career
Hastmead Diamante
After trials at several clubs in the Fourge region of Osarius, Pourrien eventually signed with Hastmead Diamante's youth academy. While the club did not feel him ready to play for the first team, he was allowed to go to a lower division side on loan. Less than a month after agreeing his academy contract, Pourrien went on loan to SS Domino. He would make no appearances for the senior team, and only a dozen appearances for the under-19s—in which he scored six times, and provided nine assists.
SS Domino
Pourrien made an immediate impact at SS Domino, scoring a late equaliser on his debut against Harrinet Mystique. He would go on to make 25 appearances for the club, scoring 7 goals and providing 8 assists. Later, Dieumerci would say his time playing in Northern League Two forced him to develop a more physical, aggressive mindset to cope with the "rough and tumble" style of play. His manager at the time, Stefano Moretti, encouraged the club to do whatever they could to make the move permanent, but admitted later that he "knew [he] wouldn't be coming back. He was just too good for that level."
Trothwands Evolution
When the loan finished, frustrated with his lack of first-team opportunities at Hastmead Diamante, Dieumerci moved to Trothwands Evolution in a hotly disputed move which ultimately led to Evo paying $730,000 NSD compensation. He quickly established himself as a first team regular for Evo, and featured fairly regularly in matchday squads, despite being only 17 years old.
After his first season—three goals and seven assists from sixteen appearances in all competitions; but only one start, in the Rabastor League Trophy—he once again complained about lack of opportunity and actively sought a move against his club's wishes. At the end of the transfer window, he appeared to have agreed a move to Cobre side Jraxville FC, only for it to fall through. He returned to Evo and performed well the following season, regularly coming off the bench to score or assist crucial goals—seven goals and eight assists from twenty-two appearances in all competitions—but remained unhappy with his role as "super sub", after making just three starts across all competitions. The following summer, he again tried to force a move, and the fall out led to him being sent out on a no-recall loan deal to Georgstead Albion in the Limey League, with Trothwands receiving a $1m fee in return.
Georgstead Albion
Pourrien's time in the Limey Isles was prolific, as he notched 12 goals and 14 assists in 37 games across all competitions. However, many observers suggested he was unhappy there, based on his body language. Dieumerci would later confess that he could not understand the Limey style of play—the ultra-physical, pass-shy style was a far cry from what he was used to in Akach and Osarius—and he felt that his manager could not really help him develop as a player. This cultural barrier meant he never really connected with the fans, which likely contributed to his discontent.
Viathyn Park AFC
Upon his return from his loan spell at Georgstead, it was made clear that Trothwands wanted to cash in on Pourrien. While Georgstead attempted to lure him back to the Isles on a permanent deal, Dieumerci opted to move to Viathyn Park AFC in Tikariot for TPL season 114 in a deal worth ₳2.2m.
Dubisha Flames
After a series of encounters with the famous djeli Odell McIntosh-Ekezie, Dieumerci confided in Cobrio national team manager Marvelous Koleoso that he felt a strong desire to return "home". A similar conversation was had with staff at Viathyn Park AFC, and after lengthy discussion, Pourrien was quietly, and reluctantly, made available for transfer. Ultimately, it was Dubisha Flames who would win his signature ahead of Ligue Akach season 10, in a deal worth $4m NSD, potentially rising to $7m NSD if certain conditions are met.
International career
Eligible to represent Cobrio through citizenship, and Akach by birth, Pourrien has represented both the Panthers and the Odum te okeala at various levels.
Style of play
Pourrien is a versatile player who has primarily operated as a central attacking midfielder throughout his career, but can also play in wider roles as a wide attacking midfielder, or further forward as a winger or even striker. Tactically, he is known to take long distance shots and engage in an aggressive style of attacking play, driving at opponents and breaking defensive lines with his dribbling. He has received praise for his physical strength, powerful runs, tactical intelligence, passing, and dribbling. His strength on the ball, dangerous runs, and excellent passing range have drawn media comparisons to Jermain Lewis, Roque Acosta, and Toby Drummond.
Described as one of the best young players in the Tikariot Premier League in season 115, OSN ranked him as among the ten best under-21 players in the world in December of that year, writing that he "has it all -- youth, power, intensity, skills, hunger, energy, confidence". In a discussion of football's best young attacking midfielders, Akachese pundit Joséphine Mukala described Rogers as an "anomaly" among attacking midfielders due to his physical strength, and shortly after his arrival at Dubisha Flames, opined that his ball control was "one of, if not the best in the league".
Critics of Pourrien have noted his poor defensive work rate as a point of contention, which, in conjunction with a perceived "disruptive personality" has put some clubs off the opportunity to sign him. In recent years, however, several observers have noted that his time in Tikariot—and perhaps also the subsequent rise in international football, spending time around Marvelous Koleoso and the Cobrio national football team setup—seems to have shaped him into a far more responsible defender when out-of-possession, as well as a much better teammate.
Personal life
Dieumerci has three biological sisters: Patricia (born 2285), Rebecca (born 2286), and Ingrid (born 2288). In addition, he has another thirteen adopted siblings, of which only one (Sylvie, born 2299) is younger than him. He is closest to his adopted older brother Joseph (born 2290), who acted as his guardian for the two years preceding his eighteenth birthday. Dieumerci views Marvelous Koleoso as an "uncle", largely based on his similarities with his father, Emmanuel.
Despite neither of his parents being religious, Dieumerci considers himself a creyente, and a sibling of Afẹfìjì—the personification of the storm winds, widely believed to be an aspect of Ifuoké, the messenger of the Irunashe— who acts as his habilitant. Some creyentes attribute Dieumerci's combination of speed and strength to his habilitant.
Noted djeli Odell McIntosh-Ekezie has chronicled part of Dieumerci's life, referring to him as "the lost cub". According to McIntosh-Ekezie, Pourrien is an uwalarin—a "planeswalker", one who can travel between the different planes of reality—and distantly related to the Ekezie family.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Int'l | Other | Total | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| SS Domino | NL2 9 | Northern League Two | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Trothwands Evolution | RPL 10 | Rabastor Premier League | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| RPL 11 | Rabastor Premier League | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Georgstead Albion (loan) | LML 8 | Limey League | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Viathyn Park AFC | TPL 114 | Tikariot Premier League | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| TPL 115 | Tikariot Premier League | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| TPL 116 | Tikariot Premier League | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Dubisha Flames | LAK 10 | Ligue Akach | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career total | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
International
| National team | Period | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cobrio | WC99 | - | - |
| Cobrio | WC100 | - | - |
| Akach | 2316 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | - | - | |
- Scores and results list his team's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pourrien goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Honours
Individual
- Tikariot Premier League U-21 Team of the Season: Season 115