"We did it Baz!": Basile Boli reveals the first words of Raymond Goethals after the victory of OM in 1993

Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin / Photo credit: Nicolas TUCAT / AFP 21:55 p.m., May 25, 2023

There are goals that score more than others in a football career. And undeniably, for Basile Boli, the one scored on May 26, 1993 against AC Milan in the final of the Champions League sits among the strongest memories of his rich career. Exceptional guest of the show Europe 1 Sport (every evening from 20 hours to 23 hours live on Europe 1), the former Marseille striker immersed himself exclusively in this match won by Olympique de Marseille, offering the first and still today the only Champions League to a French club.

That spring evening in 1993, OM played its first C1 final in a packed Munich Olympic Stadium. Facing the Milanese widely favorites, the Marseillais, carried by a charismatic president and determined to win in the person of Bernard Tapie, play their luck. "He made us understand that we can beat anyone and anytime. For me, it was an exceptional moment in my career," Basile Boli told Europe 1 Sport.

>> READ ALSO – Marseille, European champion in 93: "I made the stamp", Henri Stambouli returns to a famous anecdote

"So, are you going out?"

But this final could have looked completely different. Physically diminished, the Marseille midfielder wanted to leave prematurely during this final: "In the 10th minute, when I feel not well and I grit my teeth until the 34th minute, I say I want to go out. But Rudy Völler comes next to me and says no, don't go out. Then it was coach Raymond Goethals who told me not to go out," said Basile Boli. A tactical choice finally paid off since a few minutes later, "there is the corner and then I score the goal".

After this goal, the one who was nicknamed "the Red Wall" during his visit to Japan, is remobilized. In the locker room, OM president Bernard Tapie came to see him and said: "So, are you going out?" "Of course, I said I was going to grit my teeth. And then I finish the 45 minutes," continued Basile Boli. A lifetime reward for the midfielder who then beats "the best team of the time." "I'm proud of it. There, we beat the most beautiful team that has been European champion before, "he then moved.

>> READ ALSO – Marseille, European champion in 93: "I made the stamp", Henri Stambouli returns to a famous anecdote

"Effervescence"

At the final whistle, the excitement took hold of the stands. Basile Boli remembers observing his Belgian coach Raymond Goethals: "Right after the match, there was a blank. He leaves to sit on the sidelines. I'm going to join him and he has only one word to say to me: 'We did it Baz'. He had lived his whole career for this European Cup. Raymond was an exceptional coach because he had the words. He had the intelligence to be able to manage Bernard Tapie because it was a huge pressure to be able to instill in his players the importance of this competition that is the Champions League, the European Cup," recalled the striker of the 1993 final.

But this victory was above all allowed by the Marseille collective in the image of the relationship between Basile Boli and Fabien Barthez: "It was my spoiled. He was a little genius who you felt like he wasn't concentrating. Then at the same time, he exuded a sympathy, a desire to surpass himself in the great moments. He had exceptional qualities," explained the midfielder. Another teammate, Marcel Desailly, "it was the rock, it was my spoiled too. For me he was a little brother, I protected him. I taught him how to dress. I gave him exceptional confidence. He had enormous qualities," praised the guest of Europe 1 Sport.

But this team would not have seen the light of day without the emblematic president of the time Bernard Tapie to whom Basile Boli wanted to pay tribute: "He had an ambition that led him to us too, we were bathed in this European Cup. I say thank you to his family and thank you to Bernard Tapie," he concluded in the Europe 1 sports show.