at the Parc des Princes, the Blues will find their old home

It is a forum which has regularly seen the French team face nations that have now disappeared, such as the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, or even East Germany, in the mid-1980s … The Parc des Princes was the scene of glorious victories, like Euro 1984 but also of terrible disappointments, like the defeat against Bulgaria in 1993, depriving the Blues of the 1994 World Cup. Saturday, November 13, the France team will return to its former garden , where she played 129 games since the first in 1905, in the first Parc des Princes, but which she has only stepped on twice since leaving the Stade de France in 1998. In total, the Blues have won 74 games, for 28 losses and 27 draws.

Legend of Paris Saint-Germain, successor of Bernard Genghini in the “magic square” of the France team in the 80s alongside in particular Michel Platini or Alain Giresse, Luis Fernandez was a bit like at home in this forum: “When I played with the France team at the Parc, I was over the moon, I felt strong because I entered this stadium with confidence. I felt in total freedom, like at home. scored two goals with the France team while I haven’t scored much in my career with the Blues [6 réalisations]. I was overwhelmed “. This lawn, he spent almost his entire playing career there, between his long reign at PSG but also the Matra Racing adventure.

I’m in love with the Parc des Princes, it’s a place that allowed me to become what I am, because I had my bearings there.

Luis Fernandez

to franceinfo: sport

Unbeaten in sixteen matches played in the enclosure of the Porte de Saint-Cloud under the jersey of the Blues, Alain Giresse also keeps only good memories of the matches of the national team at the Park: “When I left home to go play with the France team in Paris, I was not sure of winning, but I was almost certain not to lose. We played a lot, and very little in the provinces. . We really had our marks, our landmarks “.

Both participated in the conquest of Euro 1984 with the Blues, with a final at the Parc des Princes against Spain, won 2-0. An unforgettable memory for the former Bordelais: “We felt strong there, we were at ease, and as we won, we were confident. So when we found ourselves in the final of Euro 84, we relied on that, c ‘was an additional asset. Then the stadium was completely committed to our cause to finally win a continental title “.

This fervor accompanied the Blues at every meeting, and not only during the finals: “Also in 1981, when we were playing against the Netherlands, a decisive match to qualify for the 1982 World Cup, there was popular support and the public played their part perfectly”, adds the former n ° 12 of the France team.

And if the Blues had won and had obtained their ticket for the World Cup in 1981, the memory of a qualifying match for the 1994 World Cup remains much more painful. The Parc des Princes is also the stadium associated with the terrible defeat against Bulgaria on November 17, 1993. The Tricolores then only needed one point to qualify but lost at the last minute after a goal from Emil Kostadinov. This defeat marked Didier Deschamps: “It’s a beautiful stadium, with a great atmosphere. But you can’t say that I have my best memories there… It’s even the worst of my career”, he declared before the friendly opposition to Australia, in 2013, at the Parc des Princes.

Asked during the week about this return to the Boulogne-Billancourt enclosure for a qualifying match for the World Cup, the coach preferred to play the card of appeasement: “What’s behind is behind, you can’t change that. Some players were not born.”. Against Kazakhstan, the meeting will be decisive: if the Blues win, they will be qualified for the World Cup in Qatar and will write a new beautiful page in their history at the Parc des Princes.