“For me, son of returnees from Algeria, Zidane is a symbol”, confides Christophe Galtier


Christophe Galtier has been coaching Losc since December 2017 – DAMIEN MEYER / AFP

  • Christophe Galtier gave a long interview to 20 minutes.
  • In this first part, he tells about his childhood marked by Algeria but also the birth of his passion for football.
  • The coach speaks in particular of Eric Cantona, his childhood friend, but also of his admiration for Zidane.

When offered an interview focused on the man and not the football coach, Christophe Galtier quickly agreed to 20 minutes. Tuesday at the domain of Luchin, the coach of Losc, amazing leader of Ligue 1 who travels this Friday to Metz (9 p.m.), came to tell his story for more than 50 minutes in the amphitheater which usually hosts press conferences.

Du Losc, there was hardly any question. On the contrary, it is a Galtier son of returnees from Algeria, childhood friend of Cantona, lover of Zidane and fan of F1 or even politics who took the time to talk about him. In this first part, the coach talks about his passion for football.

When was your first football memory?

I don’t remember what match it was but it was at the Gerland stadium. I was born in Marseille but when I was two, my father, who was a police officer, was transferred to Lyon. We lived between Lyon and Villeurbanne. And at the time, security was provided by the police in the stadium. My father was often on mission in Gerland on Sunday afternoons and one day he took us to the stadium with my brothers. I was six years old and I remember Bernard Lacombe, Serge Chiesa, Raymond Domenech, who was blackfoot like my parents. I also remember the Lyon goalkeeper
Yves chauveau who signed a card for me. I saw my first matches at Gerland then my father was transferred to Marseille.

Is it in Marseille that the passion arrives?

Yes. It really happened when I moved into a brand new low-cost housing estate in the Caillols district. At the time, the HLM, it was an exceptional quality of life with a real mix of cultures. We played in the street without risk of incident, there was no problem. If I could, I would relive the same childhood and the same adolescence in this city where there was a football club: Sport Olympique Caillolais.

This is where I did my first training. Jean Tigana played there but also René Marsiglia. As for me, I started playing alongside a certain Eric Cantona and his brother Joël. We played football all the time: at school, at the foot of the city, in training. I was taken by a passion for this game. And then, I went to the Velodrome stadium during the time of the kids. Jean-Charles de Bono, my cousin and my father’s godson, was part of that generation. OM was in the process of restructuring at the time in Division 2.

Who is the person who gave you the passion for football?

This is Celestin oliver, semi-finalist of the Mondial 58 with France. He was my trainer when I entered sports studies. With Eric Cantona, we were amazed to be trained by him. He passed on his passion to us every day in training. He is the one who gave us the desire to do everything and do everything to try to make a professional career. It was he who gave us a taste for football. We were 13 at the time.

Did you actually grow up with Eric Cantona?

Yes. From the age of 7 until the title of European Under-21 champion in 1988, we did almost everything together. School, sport, studies, we have a lot of common childhood memories. Today, I am no longer in contact with him but I have followed him throughout his career. When he left France to join England, it was crazy. What he did at Manchester United was extraordinary. He is one of the club’s legends. I followed all this with the gaze of the amazed friend. I found him at the same time very elegant, very charismatic with goals and reactions from elsewhere. He was quite a character.

Eric Cantona in Manchester United jersey – GERRY PENNY / AFP

Was he like that in real life?

No. It was built like that. He’s always had a strong personality, but he’s not someone looking for light in the gang, not at all. He was very supportive.

Did you have idols when you were a kid?

Yes. Johan cruyff. The first World Cup I watched was in 1974. It was the Netherlands, the Orange. They go to the final that year and then return in 1978. I am rocked by these two World Cups. In 78, the World Cup was played in Argentina, there was the time difference with matches at 10 p.m. But to be able to watch the games, I had to be good at school. Otherwise, it was the punishment.

Johan Cruyff in the jersey of the Netherlands at the World 74
Johan Cruyff in the jersey of the Netherlands at the World Cup 74 – STF / AFP

The games on TV are also good family memories with my mom who prepared me a bowl of milk chocolate with toast because the match was about to happen. I exactly remember the position of the sofas at home when I could watch the game with my two brothers and my parents. I also remember being punished one evening but my mother had opened the living room door a crack so that I could watch a Bastia match during their UEFA Cup epic in 1978.

Your parents are returnees from Algeria. Have you kept links with this country?

My parents and my older brother were born there. I have often heard my parents talk about this famous heartbreak with their friends and family. I was also marked by the film Sirocco’s Coup, a film where we see Marthe Villalonga at the station. She has just been repatriated and we take her for a beggar. My mother cries every time in front of this image. I know it was very hard for them but I told them one day that this country belongs to the Algerians and not to the French.

What did they say to you?

They were shocked, but I mean it deeply. There was a war with atrocities on both sides but things could have turned out differently. My family has been personally affected by this conflict. There have been deaths. But when an adult, I take this sentence out to my parents, there is a gap between what they experienced and what I perceive. Algeria belongs to the Algerians.

Is that why your favorite player is Zidane?

Yes. I am Zidane. For everything he embodies. The player but also the symbol of successful integration. And God knows that in Marseille, it’s important. I, who am a son of returnees, is really the symbol. I don’t think he wants to be, but for me he is. I appreciate his humility and his humanity. When we talk about humility and look at his career as a coach… He graduates, takes his time to learn, takes charge of the reserve, becomes an assistant before becoming a coach. To build himself as such and to have the success that he has, I find that magnificent.

Zidane's portrait displayed in Marseille city center
Zidane’s portrait displayed in downtown Marseille – GEORGES GOBET / AFP

You are also a big fan of the Blues, why?

My greatest emotions are the French team that gave them to me. From 1978, I began to have the blue white red fiber with the France team, the emergence of Michel Platini and of this whole generation with Tigana who came from my neighborhood. The France-Germany of 82 in Seville is without doubt the match that marked me the most. And there is obviously 1998. When I talk about it, I still get goosebumps. The decisive matches with the golden goal, the immense disappointment of the expulsion of Lolo Blanc in the semifinals. And then Zidane and his whole gang. Ah Zidane!

Find the second part of this long interview on Friday from 10 am on 20minutes.fr. Cycling, politics, family… Christophe Galtier will speak this time about his non-football passions



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