They called me “Little Laba”.. Josna: I didn’t expect to score two goals in my first official match with Al Ain
Big clubs are actions not words and Al Ain is equivalent to Man City, Barcelona and Real Madrid
Schreuder’s message before the match is motivating and Al Ain fans represent the driving force for the players
My parents’ desire motivated me to focus on school and my passion enabled me to be a professional football player
He played football since his early childhood in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville driven by his love and passion to practice his preferred game, but his parents’ desire motivated him to focus on school till he obtained his high school certificate. At first, it was not easy because his parents wanted him to devote most of his efforts to education only and avoid football completely. Therefore, he confronted great challenges and his mission was not at all easy as he practiced his favorite game only with his schoolmates and sometimes with his neighborhood friends.
In the neighborhood, some people noticed his football talent and advised him to play football in a professional club. This happened already when he started playing in “Club de Jeunes” in Pointe Noire, the second largest city of the Republic of the Congo. He developed gradually and after obtaining the high school certificate, he went to Brazzaville. This was his real great step in his football professional career In PNG club.
He did well there and soon he received an offer from Etoile du Congo, one of the biggest clubs in his country and actually he began his first steps of professionalism and performed a very wonderful season until he was invited to his national team to participate in the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations and U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in the same year, so he shot to fame and was a target for several European and Gulf clubs.
My story with Al Ain
Regarding joining Al Ain, he said: “After the U-23 African Cup of Nations, my agent told me that there is a club interested in me, Al Ain from UAE, and it is not a secret that I knew Al Ain since December 2018 when they played against Real Madrid in the Club World Cup final, I think. I knew the team after watching that match and when I searched on Google, I actually realized that it was a really big and great team, I was really impressed at that time, I decided to complete my transfer procedures and of course I played with the U-21 team.
Al Ain vs. Real Madrid
He continued: Actually, Al Ain is a really big team which I first watched against Real Madrid in 2018 as I said. Although I knew that Al Ain is a big team, I realized how big this giant team was when I came here, because a big club to me should not be in words only. Al Ain is actually as big as the great European teams such as Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona…etc. The environment here is ideal from all aspects; in terms of the professional work environment, sports facilities, the big gymnasium, the marvelous fan base among others, in addition to Al Ain overwhelming popularity and many other advantages that make it a really big and giant club by actions not words.
The first impression
Regarding his impression after playing his first official match with the first team, he said: “Of course, I was greatly impressed, before that, I played a friendly match here at Hazza Bin ZayedStadium, since I saw numerous fans in the stadium and I participated for about ten minutes only in that match against Bahraini Al-Khalidiya. After that, I was called up last week to participate for the first time with Al Ain first team in an official match against Al Bataeh. Before I enter, the coach asked me to play as a forward and participate in the attacks according to a specific tactic. I believe that the coach trusted me greatly as I scored two goals in less than thirty minutes. This is something incredible, but I actually felt that I was at my home among my family and not a stranger here.”
Little Laba
He continued: In Al Ain, I realized an actual sense of belonging for everyone in this entity; i.e. we play with the one-team spirit and work collectively whether junior or senior players as all of us feel we’ve one heart. Actually, big players always advise younger players, and this is also done by the technical and administrative staff, and I personally did not know how to express myself as I am not fluent in English. Well, it was difficult and complex for me at first but now I understand English a bit. For the administration, they are always here to help and support us and they actually believe in us. Although I was young, they used to tell me “You little boy, you’re going to develop with us” and even they called me with a nickname “Little Laba”.
Schreuder’s message
Regarding his impression after scoring his first two goals with Al Ain, he said: “Actually, since my early childhood, my big dream was to be a professional football player and this was my first official match as a professional player ever and I didn’t really expect to score these two goals but I believed in my abilities and the coach said to me just before I played: “You’ve good potentials and you should utilize them and perform well and score goals and if you scored just one goal, I’ll be really happy. That means the coach believes in me and this mindset is actually what drives me forward and makes me trust in my potentials, even I scored a goal by my head and another inside the penalty area after controlling the ball. I felt really impressed and I’ll not exaggerate if I told you it was like a dream, yea, a dream that come true and I believe that I’ll work hard to achieve more goals with the team.”
Al Ain fans
Regarding Al Ain fans songs that provoke his enthusiasm, he said: “Regarding Al Ain fans, they are the best, and until now I don’t know the actual meanings of their words, but the rhythm I hear from the fans is so encouraging and of course I know “Ainawi, Ainawi”. When I scored the goal, I heard the fans’ songs but the rhythm and “Al Ain” impressed me greatly.
Last word
Josna concluded his speech saying: “I came here to perform the definite task, and the Al Ain fans motivating messages exist everywhere, especially on Instagram, I’d like to tell them:
All what I ask you is to trust me as I’m here just to work, and I’ll work hard to make more achievements with a club which logo was associated with championships locally and globally. With the help of the administration, the coaching staff, everyone, and with the support of Al Ain fans, I certainly believe that we will achieve great achievements and take many championships, and all factors are here to be crowned with all titles with Al Ain” .
Personal Data
Name: Josna Loulendo
DoB: 2004-01-15
Position: Striker
Height: 183
Weight: 73
T-shirt No: 99
