How the TFC "smothered" a Maradona at the height of his glory

With Napoli, Diego Maradona had a lot of ups and downs.

Like an autumn evening in 1986 in Toulouse.

Drawing.

-

• Diego Maradona made TFC history 34 years ago, when his Napoli team were eliminated by Toulouse in the UEFA Cup (0-1, 1-0, 4-3 on penalties).

• Recent winner of a 1986 World Cup splashed with his talent, the Argentinian, who died on Wednesday, had missed his only meeting with the Stadium.

• The defender Benoît Tihy, who had not let go of a sole, had controlled the genius, of which he also underlines the human qualities.

Diego Maradona died on Wednesday and emotion traveled the planet at the speed of fiber.

In Toulouse, this drama rekindled the flame of the greatest feat in the history of the TFC, 34 years old, against Naples and its Argentine idol.

It's October 1, 1986, and the Capitol has been walking the Top 50 all summer long, to the beat

of Gold's

Images and

Gold's

.

“El pibe de oro” just flew over the Mexican World Cup.

Dressed in his unforgettable blue Buitoni jersey, the best player on Earth goes to the Ile du Ramier to confirm the victory of the first leg (1-0) and to secure his ticket for the round of 16 of the late UEFA Cup .

A priori a simple formality against a team without European reference.

However, more than two hours and a shot on goal missed by the icon later, the 35,000 spectators of the Stadium explode, Toulouse attacks "a sleepless night and the most beautiful party for fifty years", according to Benoît Tihy.

October 1986: Maradona's missed penalty at the Toulouse Stadium (TFC / Naples) #foot #tfc #maradona #sport pic.twitter.com/sVJFuePUdS

- Nicolas ALBRAND red / chef adj France 3 Occitanie (@nalbrand) November 25, 2020

The usual left-back of duty turned into a hero for a night, by extinguishing the 25-year-old Argentinian star.

"He stole his magician's wand", nicely describes Didier Pitorre, historical supporter-collector of Tef '(and Stade Toulousain).

The fifty-year-old necessarily remembers the goal of Yannick Stopyra who resets the counters to zero, of this "crazy match" which had left him "speechless" before spending the next day an oral English in his boarding school in Castres.

From the start, a "stamp" on the idol

“From the start of the match, Pascal Despeyroux puts a stamp on Maradona, recalls Pitorre, co-author of a book on the history of his club.

I think today there would have been a red card.

"The goalkeeper and captain Philippe Bergeroo describes instead, with a touch of irony," a shimmering orange card ".

Swedish referee Erick Fredriksson won't even release the yellow.

Bring in the accused: "Diego dribbles me the regular way and I touch him a little," says Despeyroux, 20 years old at the time and with great enthusiasm.

I had tremendous respect for him.

"

Yes, it's Diego downstairs.

- Private collection Didier Pitorre

Like his teammates, the former international defensive midfielder, then passed by Saint-Etienne, boasts “the extraordinary left foot” and “the lightning accelerations” of an extraordinary player, but generally irrelevant during this double meeting. you European.

"He was a bit 'carbo'"

“After the World Cup, he was a little 'carbo', he had not been exceptional against us, notes Despeyroux.

But I saw what could be a living myth at San Paolo stadium, on the first leg.

There were 80,000 people inside and as many outside, carrying flags or placards with Diego's head.

"

"In Naples, Maradona had to get two opportunities, including a face-to-face in a closed angle, but we had not seen too much", confirms Bergeroo (66), who considers the child of Villa Fiorito as "one of the two best players of all time with Pelé".

“On the way back, he was taken really well,” continues the goalkeeper at the three selections.

In Toulouse, the Napoli Buitoni version was found in the sauce.

- Andreas Solaro / AFP

So we come back to Benoît Tihy, whom Jacques Santini, Toulouse coach and future coach of the Blues, had the flair to place the strict individual marking of the infernal left-hander.

Old fashioned, even for the time.

"Benoît had roughly the same size, the same center of gravity as Diego and he suffocated him", testifies Despeyroux, very happy not to have to deal with the marking of the genius, as he had feared the previous days, to the point of "making insomnia".

“I found out three hours before the start of the first leg,” recalls Tihy (61) from Monbazillac in the Dordogne, where he now produces wine and honey.

And I said to Jacques: "I've been waiting for you to ask me for ten days!"

" I was very happy.

Against the best player in the world, there was only one thing that could happen to me: that I was good and that people talked about me.

»Won.

Our file on Diego Maradona

“In the first leg, Maradona was playing in ten and it went very well.

On the return, he is second striker.

During the first five minutes, he puts the turbine on my left side.

I felt he was in danger of hurting me the whole game.

And then I recovered.

"The captain Neapolitan rushes even the removal of his, whose Italian international or future international Ferrara, De Napoli and Bagni Carnevale (the scorer of the round), with a final shot on goal worthy of an old cassette

 : a rebound shot, on the right post then the knee of Bergeroo.

"It's the best memory of my career"

“Alberto Tarantini [Argentine defender of TFC, world champion 1978] told me not to move, because Maradona was only waiting for that to take the goalkeeper on the wrong foot, explains the future coach, among others, of PSG and the French women's team.

It is the best memory of my career, a wonderful communion between us and the Toulouse and Occitan public.

"

Checked, entangled off the field in the high-profile case of the birth eleven days earlier of Diego Armando Jr - illegitimate son that he will eventually recognize 30 years later - Maradona could have pulled the pin.

And yet, "he behaved like a lord," according to Tihy.

“He didn't have a bad gesture, not a bad word during the match.

Just before the shootout, he even walked 25 meters to congratulate me and shake my hand.

"

"A very sweet guy, very" family ", benevolent"

Pascal Despeyroux completes the hagiography.

"I was always glued to our two Argentines, Beto Marcico, our little Maradona, and Alberto Tarantini," says this pure Toulouse 55-year-old.

I had the chance before the meeting to attend a discussion between them and Diego.

We felt a very sweet guy, very "family", benevolent.

In short, the opposite of what one might think.

The idol's jersey will end up at Tarantini.

Marcico, who will find him at Boca Juniors at the end of his career, had received the first one.

“I got the De Napoli jersey back, it wasn't bad either,” smiles Tihy.

A few weeks later, Tef's European dream came to an abrupt end against Spartak Moscow (3-1, 1-5).

It doesn't matter.

Faced with the world champion and future Italian champion the following spring, Toulouse had written history, as this anecdote by Didier Pitorre illuminates.

“A friend who is now deceased, also a supporter of the TFC, had booked his life's trip with his wife to Peru long before the draw.

It was 1986 technology. So the day after the game he didn't know the outcome.

And there, in the middle of the Andes Cordillera, he notices a small black and white TV at the back of a shop.

He hears “Maradona” then he sees the images of Tarantini's joy… There he understands and starts yelling!

This feat went around the world, even if for most people it was above all Maradona who was eliminated.

"

This failed Toulouse evening will not mar the eternal glory of the divine Argentinian.

But it remains a source of pride coupled with an object of nostalgia for an entire club.

A little more since that sad Wednesday.

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