It is a few days since Mamadou Sakho steered France into the World Cup finals and the man of the moment is reliving the night of his life in great personal detail. Stade de France is still in uproar following his second goal of the night, the one that seals victory over Ukraine, as Sakho retakes his place in defence and tries to compose himself for the final 18 minutes. That is when the enormity of his achievement strikes.

“I allowed myself a second to reflect,” he reveals. “I was very, very proud but just for one second I had thoughts of my father running through my head. He is no longer with us. I thought ‘how proud you would be of me right now’.”

The Liverpool defender is back at the club’s Melwood training ground and allows himself a rueful smile. He knows the answer. Two goals in the 3-0 defeat of Ukraine, the first of his international career at senior level, helped France become the first team to overhaul a 2-0 deficit in the World Cup play-offs and reach Brazil.

The alternative was unthinkable for Sakho; France’s first failure to qualify in 20 years and extra fuel for those who accused Didier Deschamp’s team of placing personal interest above national pride.

“It was the biggest game of my life and the biggest day of my career so far,” says Sakho. “When you play for a club you know you are representing the supporters but when you are playing for an entire nation in a World Cup qualifier, you know it is as big as it can get really.

“What was great about Tuesday was that we showed the undoubted talent in our squad and we managed to harness that with pride and determination.

"We had an all-conquering spirit. That was the great thing, pulling all of that together.

Home city
France were a team under siege following the 2-0 first-leg defeat in Kiev but, with Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny sent off and changes inevitable, the youngest captain in Paris Saint-Germain's history sensed only opportunity back in his home city.

“As soon as that first leg was over I started to prepare myself for the second match,” he says. “It was inconceivable to me that France were not going to go to a World Cup so I deliberately did not listen to any of the criticism and thought only of winning that second leg.

“No one in France believed that we were going to do it but we were confident we would make history by turning over a 2-0 defeat.”

Sakho’s confidence did not end there. Before Tuesday the 23-year-old had scored only nine goals in his competitive career - seven in 201 appearances for PSG, one for France Under-16s and one at under-21 level. Yet he sensed an improvement in the biggest test of his career. “My goal for the under-21s was against Ukraine, a far-post header from a corner but I can’t remember the one for the under-16s,” he says. It was against England. “But it’s funny, I had this feeling I was going to score. I was absolutely certain.

“The night before the game we were all having dinner in the restaurant and I said to Moussa Sissoko, the Newcastle player, ‘I’m telling you, I’m going to score tomorrow. I will score’.

“I was just so determined for it to happen. As we were leaving the dressing room on the night of the game Sissoko pulled me back and said ‘Don’t forget what you told me last night’.

“That’s why I went over to him when I scored the goal. Everyone has been congratulating me since. Here in Liverpool they have all been patting me on the back, although Brad Jones insisted I had only been credited with the first goal in England. I told him it was definitely two goals back in France, and now that is official!”

Sakho can cap a glorious week with victory in the Merseyside derby at Everton today, although having seen Brendan Rodgers rejig his defensive formation and recall Daniel Agger for the 4-0 trouncing of Fulham before the international break, a starting role is uncertain.

Not that Liverpool's €19 million summer signing expected the transition from PSG to be seamless.

My choice
"I wouldn't have changed my choice for anything in the world," says the central defender. "My decision to come to Liverpool has been fantastic for me. I haven't been here very long at all but I've settled in well. . . I've been prepared to go and ask advice from everyone – my team-mates, coaches and the manager. I've asked them a lot about the game here, my family has settled in, it's going well."

Sakho was short of match fitness when thrown in for his Liverpool debut at Swansea City and unaccustomed to the left-back role he received for his Anfield debut five days later against Southampton. The day after Southampton’s victory, the defender said an emotional farewell to PSG supporters on the pitch at Parc des Princes during a game against Monaco, prompting some strange headlines as a consequence.

“I heard there were a few criticisms in the press here about why I should go back. It was actually organised by Paris Saint-Germain. They invited me back for the PSG-Monaco game and I thought ‘why not?’

“The reason I was so emotional on the field was because the whole stadium was chanting ‘Sakho, Sakho’ and in my eyes I’m not the first Sakho, that’s my dad, so again, I was thinking about him.

“Also, I was with Paris Saint-Germain for 12 years. I grew from a boy to a man there. It was my second upbringing after my family. They helped me become the man that I am today. I have a heart, I make friends and I’m not going to lose those attachments because of what football team I play for. So it was very emotional for me to go back.

With the interview seemingly over and the dictaphone about to be switched off the Liverpool defender asks; “Can I just add something about France qualifying for the World Cup?” Please do ...

“I just want to say that the players in the squad represent everyone in France, the multicultural society of France,” he begins. “When we represent France we know we are playing for the multicultural French nation. We love France and everything that is France.

“The cultural mix of France is represented in that squad and we are determined to win the hearts of the fans by fighting for the shirt. It is not a qualification just for 24 footballers in a squad but for the whole nation.”

Guardian Service