Lilian Thuram, the verdict falls

Legend of French football, the hero of the semi-final of the 98 World Cup against Croatia then captain and record holder for selections until 2008 (142 matches), Lilian Thuram took a little time to establish himself among the Blues. A promising defender for Arsène Wenger’s AS Monaco, 2nd in D1 in 1991 and 1992, the Guadeloupean honored his first cap during a France-Czech Republic match on August 17, 1994 that became legendary. Zinédine Zidane celebrated her debut for the national team in front of her Bordeaux crowd with a magnificent double!

“Just like Zidane, we had no doubts about the talent of Lilian Thuram, who played in Monaco, but we were waiting for her confirmation at international level”says Richard Coudrais, historian of the French team (notably co-author ofSpain 82, the Cup of a new world)on the website Blue Chronicles.

Unlike “Zizou”, “Tuthu” did not gain points during this first friendly meeting. Aimé Jacquet starts him in a three-way central defense with Laurent Blanc and Bruno Ngotty, with Jocelyn Angloma and Éric Di Meco on the sides and Marcel Desailly in defensive midfielder! Corentin Martins plays back-up leader and Éric Cantona and David Ginola play in support of Christophe Dugarry.

Lilian Thuram zapped by Aimé Jacquet

Lilian Thuram can do nothing about the two goals scored by the opponent in quick succession before half-time (by Tomas Skuhravy and Daniel Smejkal). “The French defense is shaken up by the Czech attackers, very solid and very efficient. Thuram gets a yellow card after ten minutes, but he plays his role”remembers Richard Coudrais.

The 22-year-old Monegasque will not be recalled a few weeks later for the Euro 96 qualifiers. Jacquet returns to a 4-man defense with Alain Roche alongside Laurent Blanc for a 0-0 in Bratislava. Thuram missed three other matches before being selected for the second time in January 1995 (coming into play in place of Christian Karembeu). It was upon his retirement from Angloma in the wake of Euro 96 that Thuram, who signed for Parma, would become a key player at right-back.