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

Romain Rouillard (interview by Jean-François Pérès) / Photo credit: PATRICK HERTZOG / AFP 21:00 p.m., May 25, 2023

A raging head shot for immense happiness. This is how Marseille fans would describe the goal scored by Basile Boli in the 1993 Champions League final. A single goal that will be enough to dismiss the great AC Milan (1-0) and that will tip the Phocaean city in the most total intoxication. However, this helmet blow may never have happened because of the persistent knee injury that Basil Boli had been suffering from for several weeks. Convinced by Bernard Tapie, then president of OM, the defender agreed to grit his teeth and coach Raymond Goethals lined him up in his starting 11. But after a blow to his sore knee in the 20th minute, he demanded a change. For Bernard Tapie, this is the time to intervene. The "boss" grabs his walkie-talkie and orders the staff to keep Basil Boli on the field.

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An episode that Henri Stambouli experienced from the inside as Raymond Goethals' deputy. "I was doing the stamp. Because Jean-Pierre (Bernès, general manager of OM Nldr) received the information from the boss and wanted to pass it on to Raymond. And Raymond was like, 'No, don't talk to him!' So I was in the middle and it was a game of ping-pong," says Henri Stambouli. The latter remembers with precision this moment of floating at the moment when Basile Boli expresses the very clear wish to return to the bench. "He's not well and Raymond, maybe, wants to take him out but he doesn't know, he hesitates. Behind there is Tapie who says 'no, no, I don't want him to move' so that's it, it didn't play to much in the end," he smiles.

"Marseille is a bit crazy"

This direct pressure imposed by the highest echelons of the club, Henri Stambouli understands. "He was someone who was so caught up in everything he did at this club that he wanted to pass it on to the pitch. There are a lot of presidents like that," he said. But according to him, Raymond Goethals would, whatever happens, have made the right choice. "Raymond also had this ability, because of his age and experience, to know when to say yes or no and to manage his site on his own."

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One thing is certain: without this direct intervention of Bernard Tapie, Basile Boli would never have shaken the nets of the Olympic Stadium in Munich. But it was this goal that gave OM its first European title and triggered an outpouring of joy in the streets of the Phocaean city. Scenes of jubilation still fresh in the mind of Henri Stambouli. "These are people who are on the electricity poles (...) We say to ourselves 'but it's not possible'. And when we arrived at this exploding stadium... These are magical moments. Communions at this level are exceptional and transcend everyone. There is an energy, a madness that emerges. Because Marseille is a bit crazy."