Tresor and Zoff before the Italy-France friendly match on 8.2.1978 – from:wikipedia.org
Article by Giovanni Manenti
Nowadays, we are accustomed to seeing the French national football team field black playersso much so that they outnumber the whites, as certified by the initial lineups of the last two Finals of the World Championships in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, albeit with a narrow majority (six to five) …
All the result of France’s colonial expansion policy that lasted four centuries (from 1534 to 1946) and mainly oriented towards the African continent, which led, even after obtaining relative independence, many inhabitants of said countries to emigrate towards the transalpine nation from the 1960s onwards .
And, to seek his fortune in the Old Continent, there was certainly no shortage of those who hoped to emerge playing football, with the prospect of signing professional contracts able to give a360 turn degrees” to their existence, very often convinced by observers and talent scouts from the best Division1 clubs looking for new talents…
A rule that not even the protagonist of our history today escapes, that is Marius Tresor, who born on 15 January 1950 in Sainte-Annea city of just over 20 thousand souls located in the French possession in Guadeloupe, a Caribbean archipelago currently considered an overseas department of the French Republic.
Tresor begins to kick a ball for the first time in a local team called Juventus, where he is noticed by one of the many observers scattered around the planet who informs the managers of Ajaccio, a club from the Corsican capital that only at the end of the 1966-’67 season had earned promotion for the first time in its history in Division1…
To the club coached by Argentine coach Alberto Muro does not seem likely to be able to include him in his team – who, after a positive debut in the national football elite finishing in ninth place, had avoided relegation by just one point the following season – such a reinforcement for the defensive department, especially after finding out that the 19-year-old from Guadeloupe he was able to combine physical qualities (1.82 m and 80 kilos) with technical ones.
The approach, as is appropriate in these cases, is gradual, with Tresor making his first team debut on 23 November 1969 in a 1-2 away defeat against Valenciennesto then collect 15 appearances in his debut season which would not be enough to guarantee Ajaccio’s salvation at the end of the Tournament, were it not for the fact that, thanks to the withdrawal of Rouen for financial reasons and the restructuring of the Championships with expansion to 20 teams of Division1, relegation is averted…
This allows a Tresor to stand out in the following two years in which he was fielded in 34 and 38 races respectively – also scoring his first goal in the Championship at the end of August 1971, which however was not enough to avoid the home defeat, ironically, again against Valenciennes and again for 1-2 – so much so that making his debut for the national team at the beginning of December 1971 at the age of 22 in the 1-2 away defeat in Sofia against Bulgariaalso being deployed by Technical Commissioner Georges Boulogne in the unprecedented role of left back.
He, on the other hand, is a libero who likes to direct his teammates, and he does it well, given that the prestigious transalpine magazine “France Football” elects him as “French player of the year” at the end of 1972, when the statuesque defender already had changed shirt, as the scope of Ajaccio is now too narrow, having joined the much more ambitious Olympique Marseille at the beginning of October …
With the national team, vice versa, Tresor comes flanked by another black central defender, Jean-Pierre Adams, with whom he pairs during the participation in the “Independence Cup” which took place from 11 June to 9 July 1972 in Brazil and which the hosts won, but they were not years of glory for “Blues”.
The France, in fact, failed to qualify for the Final Phases of the 1974 World Cup in Germany as well as failing to qualify for the qualifying round of the 1976 European Championships. (even third in a Group made up of Belgium, East Germany and Iceland…), paths which see Tresor starting out in every match…
Honestly, things aren’t much better and yet on the French Riviera where Tresor, having arrived in a Club fresh from having won two consecutive Division1 titles (1971-’72), with placings limited to a third place in 1973 and a second in 1975with the only Triumph being affirmation in the 1976 edition of the Coupe e France, which he raised as Captain after the 2-0 success over Olympique Lyon in the Final.
However, something is changing regarding “The french team“, thanks to growth of clubs such as Nantes and Saint-Etienne – from which the new Technical Commissioner Michel Hidalgo draws – and the emergence of a talent absolute like Michel Platiniwhich allows Tresor, which also has assumed the ranks of Captain from the match at the beginning of October 1976 in Sofia against Bulgaria (curiously same stadium where he made his debut…), to obtain qualification for the 1978 Argentina World Cup…
Event in which a France still immature at the highest international levels, exits in the first round also for having been included in the “Iron group” together with Argentina, Italy and Hungary, also recovering two narrow defeats (1-2) against the hosts and the Azzurri and conversely prevailing 3-1 against the Hungarians.
The Caribbean-born defender has class to spare, his elegance in his movements and his charisma towards his teammates and opponents lead him to be compared two”Sacred monsters” such as Ruud Krol and Franz Beckenbauer, but alone he cannot prevent the relegation of Olympique Marseille at the end of the 1980 tournament, as well as France’s failure to qualify for the final stages of the 1980 European Championshipseven if in the preliminary round he only takes the field in two of the six matches played by the French team…
Having reached the threshold of 30 years, it could be assumed that the final phase of his career begins for Tresor, but in his help arrives from Bordeaux coached by Aimé Jacquet – the one who will lead France to its first world title in 1998 – who he purchased him in the summer of 1980, like Hidalgo who did not intend to give up his performances, fielding him as a starter in the delicate matches against Belgium and Holland which open up toBlues” the doors of the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
The only concession, the Captain’s armband which now makes a fine display on the arm ofLe Roy” Michel Platiniwhile the adventure on Iberian soil did not start in the best way, with France defeated 1-3 on their debut by the “historic rivals” of England and the qualification snatched by the hairs with a 1-1 draw against Czechoslovakia after the comfortable 4-1 success over Kuwait…
But, faithful to the motto that Football “what you take sometimes gives back”, here the transalpines benefit from the failure of Argentina, Italy, West Germany and Spain to finish first place in their respective groups, so that in the second phase which includes four other groups of three teams each, the pairing with Austria and Northern Ireland allows Hidalgo’s team to improve their understanding and, having qualified for the semi-finals with two victories for 1-0 and 4-1 respectively, they find the West Germany, appointment set for 8 July 1982 allo “Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan” of Seville.
Having reached this stage of the Event for the second time in its history – the only precedent being the 1958 World Cup in Sweden – French and Germans give rise to a challenge that has nothing to envy of the “layingaria” Italy-Germany semi-final of Mexico 1970with even in this case extending to extra time after the identical score of 1-1 in the 90th minute…
And here everything happens, with its own Tresor emerges as the protagonist when, as an authentic leader and driving force behind his teammates, he transforms into a goalscorer by harpooning a free kick in the 3rd minute of the extensions kicked from the right by Giresse for the last of his four centers with the national team shirt which seems to smell of the Final, especially since after just 6′ Giresse rounds the score to 3-1 with a surgical conclusion from the limit.
Wounded, but not yet killed, theGerman tiger” reacts and manages to rebalance the fate of the match with the consequent decision on which of the two teams will face Italy on 11 July in the Final entrusted to penalty kickswhich turn out to be bitter, with teammate Bossis making the crucial mistake…
A France that also fails to secure third place, defeated 2-3 by Poland, with Tresor to see the Captain’s armband returned to him, as well as on the occasion of his 65th and last appearance in the farewell match which took place on 12 November 1983 in Zagreb against Yugoslaviafor what, at the time, represented the record with “Blues”, destined to resist until September 11, 1985, when Bossis himself will overcome it.
This time we are really at the end credits, with Tresor, conditioned by repeated back problems, a put an end to his competitive activity by being fielded in the Championship for the last time on 18 November 1983 in Bordeaux’s 3-1 away success in Bastia, a season which, ironically, yes he concluded with the conquest of his only Division1 title despite a limited contribution of 12 appearances and one goal …
Tresor can not boast the privilege of being the first black player to wear the national team shirt – this record belongs to a certain Raoul Diagne, originally from Guyana, who wore its colors on 18 occasions between 1931 and 1940 – but certainly the first to be remembered as an absolute protagonist.
Having had to put an end to a career of 516 overall appearances at club level embellished with 18 goals scored it also does not allow Tresor to be selected for the Continental Review that France organizes in 1984 and which it wins by beating Spain 2-0 in the Final, with the 24-year-old Yvon Le Roux, at the time playing for Monaco, taking over his place…
Replaced in the lineup on the pitch, but certainly not in the hearts of the Transalpine fans…