Soccer. Victory of OM in the Champions League: “I hooked the security guard and I found myself on the ground, in a suit”

What is the memory that comes back first, 30 years after May 26, 1993?

When the referee blows his whistle. We are liberated. There’s a minute I don’t touch the ground. I was completely mad: I pushed the physio against the security guard, I hooked another security guard and I found myself on the ground, in a suit! I remember this joy, this release because it was so tense throughout the match. (We show him pictures). I scream like crazy! I’m not normally like that at all…

The match was difficult to live?

What have we suffered! But this team was connected, there was a solidarity that made it possible to resist this great team from Milan. The goal of Basile (Boli) before half-time is the culmination of this resistance, this determination, this desire that all the players had.

Was it a close-knit team?

There were very strong relations between them. It makes me laugh when we do “team-building” to build a team artificially. There, it happened naturally, because the start of the season had been complicated. It was a hardworking team.

What was your role during this final?

At the time, the physical trainer was not on the bench. We were right behind, in the stands. My role was during the warm-up. Moreover, (Bernard) Tapie had passed by and said to me “look! showing me the AC Milan warm-up. It was very military. Personally, I think on the contrary that players should be given time. Our captain (Didier Deschamps) led part of the warm-up. So I replied to Tapie: “They don’t need us, they’re not children. Later, during the game, the guy won’t be there to tell them what to do! “.

“Bernard Tapie made people go up to the ceiling. He had such an influence on the group… I never saw a president like that again. »

This Milan was scary, they were called the “Invincibles…”

When I watched the warm-up, I saw a regiment. Football is choreography. You have to organize but you don’t see the choreographer in the middle of the dance… We had players who knew how to organize themselves.

Going green was an important moment for the group. What memories do you have of it?

It was a bit comedy, it was really relaxing. Why dramatize before an event like this? Journalists were with us at the hotel, moreover they took a few buckets of water. Bernard Tapie played a bit during training, he took a penalty in street shoes…

Can we also imagine a big party after the title?

Jocelyn Angloma had a broken leg. Everyone was super happy, too, except that he had a fracture… Me, I couldn’t be 100% happy with an injured player, I was worried about Joce, I was afraid that he would suffer. So it was pretty quiet.

The players were not euphoric?

Yes, of course ! I remember the cleanup the next day, the players talked a lot, they were very happy. I told them: “Hey ho, in three days we will host PSG! They replied: “Don’t worry Roger, we’ll be there!” “. They really wanted to win this match too (to secure the title in D1). That’s what happened, it wasn’t unforgettable, a real boxing fight, but it had to be won.

There was a real communion with the whole city on your return…

It was a party, as soon as we arrived on the highway in Marignane. The cyclists scared us to follow the bus. And the stadium was full to welcome us. It was something beyond imagination.

“The goal was for everyone to have a bit of the cut, so it was circulating. But she is very imposing… In the end, no one wanted her anymore! »

What has become of the cut in all this?

The goal was that everyone could have it a little, so it circulated. But it’s a very imposing haircut… What made me laugh a lot is that in the end, no one wanted it anymore! Everyone passed it on: “You’re the one responsible for it”, “No, it’s you! “.

What influence did Bernard Tapie have on this team?

He was a president-manager. For him, success was unquestionable. He brought this energy and pushed people to their limits, with great rigor. At the start of the season, there had been some tensions, he said that the preparation had been missed. For me, who was the physical trainer, it was a bit complicated.

The VA-OM case

started a few days before the final. How did the group react?

The staff talked about it a little, but very little. I think the players didn’t discuss it much, they were focused on their final. It was after that it was picked up everywhere.

“It does not seem possible to me to buy a Champions League final. If there’s one game that can’t be fixed, it’s this one. »

In this case, the justice concluded that there had indeed been corruption. Some observers wonder if this Champions League has also been bought. What do you think ?

It doesn’t seem possible to me to buy a Champions League final. If there’s one game that can’t be fixed, it’s this one: it’s a result for all the players! Afterwards, there are always things lying around, rumours, there’s no point in discussing them.

Jean-Jacques Eydelie also said that the players received an injection before the final…

Not in front of me. And I don’t think there was a sting or anything. I heard everything: the Captagon, that… I was in the locker room, I didn’t see anything. Weird, right? Afterwards, Tapie worked a lot on the placebo effect, with affirmations, etc. He put the players in a state of mind where nothing could happen to them. By telling them that he had everything in hand, that sort of thing that means nothing! He made people go up to the ceiling. He had such an influence on the group… I never saw a president like that again.