Arriving in the summer of 2025 from Vineuil (National 3), Yannis Sankoutcha had the best season of his young career in Tarbes. Author of eight goals and seven decisive assists with the TPF, the Tarbes winger was rewarded with a selection with the Togo A team for friendly matches against the Central African Republic and Benin. The first international in the club’s history.
The exceptional TPF season has definitely not gone unnoticed. Having just been promoted to National (formerly National 2) from next season, the Tarbais are starting to reap the fruit of their work. The first of them is none other than Yannis Sankoutcha.
The Tarbais winger, a major asset of the TPF attack, will experience his first selection with the Togo A team after having experienced the U17 and U23 selections of the Éperviers. “I got a phone call from the coach when I wasn’t on the shortlist. So, I had already planned my vacation. He calls me a week and a half before the list. And there, he makes me understand that he is going to select me to reward me for my season. He asked me to cancel my vacation and I did it immediately,” confides the player who just celebrated his 22nd birthday a few weeks ago.
An example of the good work done at the club
A call-up synonymous with pride for the Tarbes left winger, author of the best season of his career with eight goals and seven decisive assists. “A call-up with the A’s is the Holy Grail, but I can’t put into words the feelings I feel, the emotion I felt at the time of the coach’s call,” explains the Togolese.
“My selection is proof that TPF works well and that even while playing in Tarbes, you can be selected for the national team.â€
Arriving in Tarbes in the summer of 2025 from Vineuil (National 3), Sankoutcha arrived in the Hautes-Pyrénées with a lot of promise. “He came to us with zero stats, just because a friend I know from Paris who follows players recommended him to me. In the end, he exploded with us. He has worked a lot and he still has room for improvement. This call-up is a very good thing for Yannis because he deserved it, but it also demonstrates all the good work we do at the club in Tarbes,” says Tarbes coach Marc Fachan.
Responsibilities to come with Togo
An explosion that the main person concerned was looking for when coming from the Tarbes side. “I knew what I had to do when I arrived at TPF because I was coming off a complicated season,” remembers the left winger. I was keen to do well, to relaunch myself because I know what I am capable of. So when I arrived at the TPF, I was determined to perform and to state, which was the most important for me this season. It was a huge springboard for me in my development. Thank you Besides my teammates because it’s thanks to them, everyone put their talent in so that I could perform.”
The only player in the French fifth division with the Togo group, Yannis Sankoutcha should, barring a turnaround, experience his first minutes with the A team jersey. “The coach made me understand that I had a card to play because he wants to use me in a register where there are not many similar profiles, left-handed, capable of playing on the side. I could get away with it, he made that clear to me. I’m going there with the intention of playing. Even if you have to integrate, get your bearings, it’s a first selection and you have to remain lucid and humble too. But I will give 200% to make my country proud.”
A future at TPF on hold
More than his native country, Yannis Sankoutcha will also make the TPF proud which he will represent during the gathering by being the first player called up to a national selection by being licensed in Tarbes. “Frankly, it’s a source of pride. When I told the coach, he showed his joy. Because I am the first selection that he also had as a coach. So it’s a source of pride. And for the club, it’s a showcase too. Proof that it works well at TPF and that even playing in Tarbes, you can be selected for the national team. It also sends a good image of the club,” recognizes the Togolese.
Feeling shared by his coach. “It’s an incredible individual reward for him. And also a collective reward for the club. This is the first international of the TPF. This will allow us to be talked about internationally and it will be a spotlight. In any case, I hope that this first call-up will be a way for him to establish himself permanently with the selection.”
A spotlight on the TPF but also on the player who, after a successful season on a statistical level, should attract the eye of recruiters and calls from professional clubs. “The future now is to go as high as possible. We will see in the coming weeks how that will happen. But I am still at TPF, I am still a player from Tarbes and if ever I have to be brought From then on, I will only remember the positive things about TPF, which is an incredible club,” confides Yannis Sankoutcha.
In the meantime, the Tarbais is still a Tarbes player and could write a little more club history by being decisive with Togo on Friday evening against the Central African Republic.
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