Solène Delinger 2 p.m., December 3, 2022
Yannick Noah is the guest of Europe 1 on Saturday in the program "There is not only one life in life".
At the microphone of Isabelle Morizet, the 62-year-old Franco-Cameroonian singer returned to an episode in his life that deeply hurt him.
On October 4, 2000, he thought he was appointed to kick off the very first football match between France and Cameroon.
It was finally David Douillet who was called...
Yannick Noah remembers with bitterness the very first football match between his two countries of heart and blood, France and Cameroon.
The meeting took place on October 4, 2000 at the Stade de France.
And, the singer was convinced that we were going to call on him to kick off this sporting meeting.
“It is I who must give this kick-off”
"There were times when I had the impression that no one had thought of me", begins by explaining Yannick Noah at the microphone of Isabelle Morizet on Europe 1 before evoking this famous football match.
"For the first match and the only match that there was France-Cameroon, I went to the Stade de France and I was in the stands. For three days I said to myself: 'There is someone who will call me because it is I who have to give this kick-off. Who else can give it?'", remembers Yannick Noah in there is not only one life in life.
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David Douillet kicked off the match
On D-Day, Yannick Noah hopes until the last moment to be the lucky one: "And then the day arrived, no phone call, I found myself in the stands, nothing. And at one point, the announcer said : "Who better, who more important to kick off this first France-Cameroon? Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome… David Douillet!".
When the judoka's name sounded in the stadium, Yannick Noah explains that he received a "stab in the belly".
Yannick Noah has since obtained compensation.
Last July, he received the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron as village chief, in Cameroon.
"It was a very precious moment. The president came to bow at the grave of my father, my grandfather, my grandmother. It is a very strong moment because my two countries were there. It is the symbol of my two countries", explains Yannick Noah, proud of his dual culture.
The 62-year-old singer also pays tribute to his roots in his new album
La Marfée.