It is one of the biggest air disasters in history in France: on December 21, 1987, the plane linking Brussels to Bordeaux crashed on approach to Mérignac airport. After hitting trees, an Embraer Brasilia caught fire and broke apart, killing all 13 passengers and three crew members.
Among the victims is Philippe Deschamps, older brother of Didier Deschamps. If he very rarely mentions this family drama, the French coach spoke to Nagui for the documentary “Didier facing Deschamps” broadcast in the fall of 2019.
“It’s so unfair, but we live with it. We have to. Without, and with. And I know that for my parents, it’s hard, even today, he confided. The years have passed, time does its work, but we cannot forget. Plus it was at Christmas time… We are left scarred for life, obviously. »
“These wounds are indelible”
Nearly four decades later, the wound remains significant. However, Didier Deschamps assures him, it did not weigh on his career. “I didn’t want to succeed anymore. I would have had the same desire to succeed but it’s more in my own construction, in my own head…,
he had whispered. We don’t just do it for ourselves, but for someone who is no longer there… but who is there. »
In recent years, the former midfielder has also been confronted with the deaths of his brother-in-law shortly before Euro 2016 and then of his father a few months before the 2022 World Cup. “ Life takes people from us, but it gives us unsuspected strengths,
he confided about it. These wounds are indelible. There were such painful traces… But we continue to live. »
