Blues /: Mattéo Guendouzi (OM): “I would have preferred to play at the Stade de France… the Park is the PSG stadium”

From Mattéo Guendouzi in the text. The midfielder of OM is not the type to practice the language of wood in front of the media when he represents his club. It’s the same with the France team. Asked Thursday about the reunion between the Blues and the Parc des Princes, the Marseillais delivered his feelings straightforward. “I would have preferred to play at the Stade de France, the Parc des Princes is the PSG stadium, he said. But we will be keen to win there and I hope that the people who come to the stadium will be wholeheartedly with us. “

Arrived on loan from Arsenal last summer, Guendouzi was quick to find his marks at OM and has established himself as an essential link in Jorge Sampaoli’s system. In this sense, the Olympian midfielder already embodies a club hated by PSG supporters. It has already happened in the past that Marseille players wearing the jersey of the France team are whistled by the public at the Parc du Princes. The rivalry between the two clubs sometimes goes beyond the framework of the championship to pollute the national team.

Leave bad memories in the past

But the stake is elsewhere. Saturday against Kazakhstan, the France team will have a first opportunity to secure its ticket for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. At the Parc des Princes, therefore, which was the home of the Blues for decades before the creation of Stade de France. It is associated with many memories for the national selection. Good or bad, like the cataclysmic defeat against Bulgaria on November 17, 1993 (1-2), synonymous with elimination for the World Cup in the United States in 1994.

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But the new French generation ultimately has few memories of the Blues at the Park. “I was not yet born in 1993“, recalled Guendouzi, aged 22. A few minutes later, Jules Koundé, also aged 22, did not have a very different speech.”I was told about some bad memories, recognized the defender of Sevilla FC. But I think it’s in the past, it’s historical but it’s been a long time since we played it. We want to honor the jersey and win this match to leave it in the past. ”

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