Erich Maas, five years and a title for a German who entered the legend of the Canaries

Forty-seven years have passed but the memories are still surprisingly very precise in the mind of Erich Maas. “Sometimes there are things that mark“says the former winger, now 81, who spent five seasons with the Canaries. the arrival of Friborg at La Beaujoire
this Thursday evening, which marks the start of the return matches of the group stage, France Bleu Loire Océan has tracked down the former number 11, Erich Maas, certainly one of the Germans who most marked the legend of FC Nantes.” All the years I was in Nantes we always finished either second or third, except in 1973 when we were championsrewinds the former German international. We were never misclassified.” Another era that Maas likes to remember every summer when he comes to holiday in La Baule. Memories.

Munich, an ephemeral adventure due to an infernal pace

In the Bundesliga, Erich Maas has built a solid reputation. When in 1970 the winger agreed to join Bayern after having been ardently courted by the Munich leaders, he was a member of Brunswick, the club with which he won the championship in 1967 and is on the pre-list to fly to Mexico to compete in the World Cup. “I was finally one of the two players who were not selected to go to the World Cup, sorry Erich Maas At the time, I was upset, unhappy, I spent three weeks with my in-laws in France and for once, I had done nothing. No football or anything.” Digestion of the news is far from easy, especially since with his new team, everything does not go as planned.

At first my wife didn’t want to leave Munich, but I made the right choice.

Three workouts a day, “one at 6 a.m., the other at 11 a.m. and in the afternoon there was opposition”, lists the man who now lives in the east of France. Maas is not one to do things by halves. In two weeks, the winger loses five kilos, misses his start to the season, ends up injured and gets knocked over by the press across the Rhine. In private, the player then just thirty years old expressed his discomfort and remembered that several French clubs, including Nantes and Monaco, had made eyes at him during the previous summer.

The regrets of having missed the double in 1973

“I received a letter from President Fonteneau and it happened like thisassures the player who will have only played six games with the Rekordmeister. I decide to terminate my contract. At first my wife didn’t want to leave Munich but I made the right choice.” The day of his arrival, he was greeted on the airport tarmac by Albert Heil, the general secretary of the Nantes club at the time. “Long and elegant, but not frail, because the shoulders are broad and the torso well decoupled, the silhouette of Erich Maas was framed Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in the door of the Viscount of Air-Inter which arrived from Paris“, reported Presse Océan, the day of his signing with the Yellows of José Arribas, then double champions of France. For five seasons, the man will form a sumptuous offensive quartet with Bernard Blanchet, Angel Marcos and Henri Michel at his side. Without forgetting the young Gilles Rampillon.

Frankly, I hadn’t been good. I have always resented the heat and that day, it was extraordinary.

“For my first full season, I score 16 goalshe says, his tone filled with pride. For a winger, that’s not bad, right?Slapped by Stade Rennais in their first game [0-4, ndlr], the number 11 author of 43 goals in the first division during his Nantes period, will nevertheless quickly get used to a new championship and a country he is discovering. “Fortunately, the next match, against Nice, we win it“, he lets go with a lot of spontaneity. Of these “five magnificent years in Nantes“, Erich Maas keeps a slew of good memories. The title of 1973 in high point. Many anecdotes. “Not long after I arrived, we play in Lyon and we have a clash with Lacombehe reveals. At the time, he said to me: “it doesn’t matter, old man”. And I thought old was an insult (laughs). I didn’t know it was an expression.“And some regrets too.

“In Marcel-Saupin, a great atmosphere with very close spectators”

Entered the history of FC Nantes for having been the author of the 500th goal of the Yellow and Green in the first division, keeps a bitter memory of the final against Lyon, in 1973, where he missed the double Cup of France-Championship. “We beat them twice in the league and moresaid with a hint of annoyance, the one who lived in rue Lamoricière. Frankly, I hadn’t been good. I have always resented the heat and that day, it was extraordinary.” In the UEFA Cup, he still sees his opportunity against Tottenham, in the round of 16 return, which can allow the Canaries to qualify. “We lose 1-0 and they give me the ball at the last minute, assures the player described as being “a guy with a strong personality” by Gilles Rampillon. I overflow, I hook to the right like Rampillon and my shot ends up on the post. Or this pass intercepted by the Dane from Vejle, Norregaard, two years later in the Champions League, which led to the only goal of the match to Marcel-Saupin, synonymous with the elimination of FC Nantes.

Today peacefully installed near Nancy, “in the countryside: 120 inhabitants, 3,000 cows“, laughs the octogenarian who still has fond memories of the moments spent with the yellow and green jersey on his shoulders. With memorable meetings at the Marcel-Saupin stadium: “There was a great atmosphere with spectators who were very tight, they were almost at the edge of the field, it was beautiful“, he describes. On the phone, he continues to discuss with his great friend, Bernard Blanchet, of this adventure that brings him back to La Baule every summer. A corner he had discovered with his wife at the time and which sends him back tirelessly, a few decades back.