The slightly older supporters of the Girondins de Bordeaux and OM remember very well this fiery mano a mano between the two teams during the 1998-1999 season. The Aquitaine club coached by Elie Baup, led by a fiery offensive quartet with Ali Benarbia, Johan Micoud, Sylvain Wiltord and Lilian Laslandes, was crowned champion of France on the last day against PSG, with a goal at the end of the match signed Pascal Feindouno.
During the Girondins’ coronation in 1999.
Opposite, Rolland Courbis was at the head of a very good Marseille team with three 98 world champions, Laurent Blanc, Robert Pirès and Christophe Dugarry, as well as William Gallas, Peter Luccin, Eric Roy and Fabrizio Ravanelli. The latter, an Italian striker nicknamed “the Silver Fox”, had given the Phocaeans the advantage in Nantes and OM were for a time virtually champions of France before the outcome at the Parc des Princes.
Élie Baup pays a beautiful tribute to Rolland Courbis, who died on January 12, in an interview given to the show The Cleaning on YouTube.
Élie Baup: “ He was an incredible person, very close to all the people”
“Already, it’s a great sadness, an emotion, he’s an incredible character in French football, who had a verve like no other. He was someone who was tactically strong. When we played against him, it was a struggle, somewhat fratricidal, we didn’t know what he was going to do to us because tactically he was always trying to confuse the opponent. And then, he was someone who had a way of expressing that was recognizable to everyone, with verbs, illusions, images related to football, which made people love football. He was someone very close to people. Humanly, I especially remember this human side. He was an incredible person, very close to all the people”he said.
Baup and Courbis crossed paths for many years on the fields of the French championship. The coach with the cap was a coach from 1994 to 2013, at AS Saint-Étienne (1994-1996 and 2004-2006), Girondins de Bordeaux (1997-2003), Toulouse FC (2006-2008), FC Nantes (2008-2009) and OM (2012-2013). During this time, “Coach Courbis” gave his inspiring talks to players from TFC (1994-1995), Girondins (1996-1997), Marseille (1997-1999), RC Lens (2000-2001), AC Ajaccio (2001-2003 and 2004-2006) and Montpellier HSC (2007-2009).
