Walid Mesloub was born in Trappes (on the outskirts of Paris), on September 4, 1981. The former midfielder of Algerian descent began to make a name for himself in football at Levallois, in the French fourth tier. In 2007/08, he moved up a level to Istres in the third division and it was there that, the following year, he won Ligue 3. At the same club, he then made his debut (2009/10) in Ligue 2.

But Walid Mesloub's breakthrough in the second most important championship in France came with Le Havre (2010 to 2014). At the beginning of that period, the midfielder made his debut for the Algeria national team on November 17, 2010, in a friendly against Luxembourg (0-0).

It is worth, however, going back a year, to November 2009 (specifically, to the 8th), to speak of the birth of the most important protagonist of this story: the son of Walid Mesloub, Mezian Soares — the boy who was born with football in his blood and the fruit of… love with a Portuguese woman.

Returning once more to the father, the Algerian international finally made the leap to Ligue 1 in 2014/15, to play for Lorient, where he shared a dressing room with... Raphael Guerreiro. It is precisely with the European champion for Portugal that the first comparisons now arise when talking about Mezian.

Not only because they both have an outstanding left foot, but, above all, because, despite being born in France, they did not escape the attention of Portugal's national team recruiters. If, on the one hand, Raphael Guerreiro reached the Quinas through the under-21s only at 20 years old, the case of Mezian Soares, by contrast, is much earlier: he was called up to the same national team at 16 — now, by Luís Freire — but before that he had already represented the under-16s and under-17s.

Mezian Soares, who is also eligible to play for the France and Algeria national teams, has been shining at the highest level at Lens — where his father also played (between 2017 and 2020), after leaving Lorient.

The young prospect even scored the goal that qualified the French side for the current edition of the Champions League, against Nantes (1-1), on the penultimate matchday of last season's league. The moment was even more special because it was the attacking midfielder's debut for the first team and (even better!) the first action of the left-footer, who had entered the game ten seconds earlier.

The player, who is also a winger — often compared to Yamal — made history again two weeks ago, in a 3-2 triumph over Czech side Slavia Prague (in which he even provided an assist), becoming the second youngest Portuguese ever to play in the Champions League: at 16 years, ten months and two days, Mezian Soares is only surpassed by Dário Essugo who, in 2021, debuted at 16 years and eight months for Sporting.

Speaking of 2021… it was in that year that Walid Mesloub ended his career, at 35, at Umm-Salal in Qatar. By then, his boy was already catching the eye. Now a 16-year-old adult, Mezian Soares is one of the most exciting names of the present and future of Portuguese and... world football.

“We hope Mezian gives us many joys”

Mezian Soares is, alongside Flávio Gonçalves and Rafael Nel, one of the new faces in the under-21 squad. However, the Lens player stands out for being the third youngest ever to be called up to the youth national team — only behind Chalana and Diogo Costa.

It was in that sense that Diogo Sousa highlighted, this Monday, the young player's presence in Luís Freire's list: “I now follow French football quite a lot and Mezian is having a good start to the season. He deserves to be here, like all of us, and he is at the same level as everyone.”

The Strasbourg midfielder and, therefore, Mezian Soares's rival in Ligue 1, is confident that the forward will have an important role in the team: “We hope he gives us many joys.”

The under-21s gathered this Monday for the first time, at the Cidade do Futebol, in Oeiras, to prepare for the final matches — against Bulgaria (this Friday), Gibraltar (September 30, Wednesday) and Czechia (October 6, Tuesday) — of qualification for the European Championship of the category, to be held in 2027 in Serbia and Albania.

Diogo Sousa stressed the ambition of arriving at those matches at their “best level”, highlighting the talent in the Portuguese squad: “That gives us comfort, to everyone and to the coach himself.”

Portugal currently leads qualifying Group B with 19 points from seven matches — five more than Czechia, followed by Scotland (with one more game) and Bulgaria, both with eleven.

The goal, acknowledges the former Vitória de Guimarães midfielder, is close: “We will work to manage to win all the games and try to resolve our situation as quickly as possible, scoring as many goals as possible, conceding as few goals as possible, so that we qualify.”