Marius Tresor.( France) |
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Collection title
Portraits of legendary footballers
First broadcast date
2007
Abstract
Marious Tresor left Guadeloupe, his native island at an early age to join Ajaccio (1969-1972) then Marseille (1972-1980) and finally Bordeaux (1980-1984). The legendary captain of the French national team is on the field during the defeat against Germany in the 1982 world cup, match in which he scored a memorable goal.
Production companies
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France Outremer - Coproduction
- COPEAM - Coproduction
Primary theme
Sport and games
Map locations
- France - South West - Bordeaux
Context
Marius Tresor
Stéphane Mourlane
Marius Trésor is one of the leading players in French football of the 1970’s and 80’s. Born on January 15, 1950 in Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe, he began his professional football career in 1968 in Ajaccio. The previous year Athletic Club Ajaccio, founded in 1910 and professional only since 1965, had moved up into the first division. The Corsican club’s ascent to the highest level of football was given added impact with a popular song ("The Football Match") written and sung by one of its keenest supporters, Antoine, a folk composer and singer, from his "élucubrations” (the title of the album, 1966 – wild imaginings). Initially recruited as a center forward, coach, coach Alberto Muro quickly put Marius Tresor in defense. In 1971, Ajaccio players were ranked sixth, the best in the club’s history. Although playing in defence, his input is seen everywhere, as evidenced by his being awarded Best French Player in 1972. Olympique Marseille, who just won the championship and cup double, recruited him in an exchange with Roland Courbis. Marius Tresor quickly made his presence felt in a team that was playing a leading role in the league (third in 1973 and second in 1975). As captain, he held the Coupe de France aloft to the delighted fans in June 1976. The Marseille club then went through a bad patch, both financially and on the field: in 1980 it was relegated to the second division. Marius Trésor then leaves Marseilles to join the Girondins de Bordeaux. Chairman Claude Bez, who for the past two years had been trying to redress the club, began the era of "football business", notably by bargaining new broadcasting rates with the media. That gave Aimé Jacquet the means to lead a top-level team where Marius Tresor played alongside internationals like Bernard Lacombe, Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana, Patrick Battiston ... In 1984, the player from Guadeloupe was awarded his first Champion of France title.
Since 1971 Marius Tresor had also been an international. With 65 caps, he was the first to break Roger Marche’s record. With Jean-Pierre Adams he formed what coach Stefan Kovacs called "black guard" of the French team, at a time when the results were scarcely brilliant. He became a symbol of the French football revival. The reason was firstly because he was captain during qualifying rounds of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. He also strongly marked minds for scoring two of the four goals he scored for France during a highly symbolic game. He was thus one of the scorers (with Didier Six) during the drawn match against one of the best teams in the world, Brazil, at Maracana stadium on June 30, 1977. He also scored a wonderful goal in the semi-finals of the 1982 World Cup in Seville against the West Germany. It was a match of enormous emotional intensity, particularly after the German goalie Schumacher had aggressed Patrick Battiston. That action reignited in the French minds the anti-German feeling everybody thought had been eliminated after the last world war. The defeat on penalties accentuated the drama and each player was elevated to hero status. Marius Tresor, like the other players, probably did not appreciate the immediate challenges of this game. In 1978 he stayed well clear of the protest movement against the Argentine dictatorship that a few players like Dominique Rocheteau, tried to organize in the French team. Like many footballers, Marius Tresor remained prudent, reserved, which in his case is consistent with his personality, when it comes to stating an opinion of something outside the field of sport. He simply states his attachment to his West Indian roots. He does that in a light-hearted way when he recorded a song ("Sacred Marius") in 1978, in which he calls himself a "child of the islands" in a swaying melody. At the end of his career, in 1984, he became one of the directors of Bordeaux, where he worked in the shadows with the reserve team. His enduring popularity, however, means he still gets many offers to appear on the media, where often he shows his anger at the racist and xenophobic exhibitions football has known recently.
Bibliography:
Pierre-Louis Basse, Seville 1982. France-Germany, the match of the Century, Paris, Editions Private, 2005, 150 p.
Paul Dietschy, Yvan Gastaut, Stéphane Mourlane, Political History of the World Cup soccer, Paris, Vuibert, 2006, 346 p.
Gérard Ernault, Trésor. Sans peur et sans reproche, Paris, Calmann-Levy, 1976, 125p.
