Paris Saint-Germain legend Bernard Lama has urged young footballers to combine football and education so as to achieve successful careers.

Lama was briefing football hopefuls during a ‘Meet and Greet’ event held at Kigali Marriott Hotel where he met 30 young players from the PSG Academy in Rwanda.

He is in Rwanda where he is expected to name a baby gorilla during the highly-anticipated Kwita Izina event that slated for Friday, September 1 in Kinigi, Musanze District.

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Lama is a member of the French team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and UEFA Euro 2000 in Netherlands.

In his address to the youngsters, Lama said that football is not a sport of uneducated or illiterate people and encouraged them to put much effort in education for them to become successful footballers.

"You should combine both your studies and football. Today’s world requires that versatility, it is possible and the examples are there,” he said.

"You’ve got this chance to join this big academy but that is not good enough to take where you want to be, you need to put in more energy, discipline, dedication and keep the consistency,” he added.

Lama, 60, most notably played in the French Division 1 for Lille, Metz, Brest, Lens, Paris Saint-Germain, and Rennes and Premier League side West Ham United. In 2006, he briefly coached the Kenyan national team which is his only professional managerial experience.

He commended the country for showing its commitment in not only supporting sports but also turn it into a potential area of tourism by signing partnership deals with world class football clubs like PSG that he represents at Kwita Izina, Premier League side Arsenal and now German giants Bayern Munich.

"You have a nice and supportive country, everything is growing here and football should not be exception,” he told PSG Academy Rwanda players.

Through the Visit Rwanda campaign, the Rwanda Development Board is working with Paris Saint-Germain to showcase the country as a premier tourism and investment destination in Africa and promote Rwandan tea and coffee. Rwanda and Paris Saint-Germain recently extended their partnership until 2025 after a fruitful initial three-year collaboration.

It is also through the existing partnership that PSG opened an academy in Huye District, Rwanda, in November 2021 with an objective to train future talents and encourage Rwandan youngsters to play football.

A total of 172 children, boys and girls aged between 6 and 16, are taking part in the academy’s project.