He had exactly the same name as another goalkeeper from a French team, of his same generation but who played in another sport, handball, with a smaller cage. Bruno Martini, the former goalkeeper of the Blues of football (31 selections between August 1987 and May 1996), died of cardio-respiratory arrest on Tuesday at the age of 58. Deputy director of the Montpellier training center (L1), he was in intensive care at the Arnaud-de-Villeneuve hospital in Montpellier since October 12.
European Champion in 1988 with the Espoirs alongside Eric Cantona and Stéphane Paille, Bruno Martini was the goalkeeper of a blue generation stuck between two blessed eras, that of Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane. He honors his first selection on August 12, 1987 under the orders of Henri Michel (2-1 defeat in Germany) but it is with the coach Michel Platini that the goalkeeper of AJ Auxerre goes through his best moments.
He is the titular goalkeeper at Euro 1992 in Sweden. This is going less well than expected (group eliminations) but Martini was the chief goalkeeper of the entire qualifying campaign which had seen the France team remain undefeated. This course earned him an individual award to which he held dear: European goalkeeper of the year 1991.
He won a Coupe de France in 1994
Bruno Martini is still there four years later in 1996 when the Blues of Aimé Jacquet play the Euro in England. But this time he is on the bench: Bernard Lama has arrived in the meantime and has taken his place. The agreement between the two men will never be good.
During the Blues camps and press briefings at the time, it was wise not to ask to see the two men at the same time. The last of the 31 official selections of Bruno Martini dates back to a preparation match for this Euro, May 29, 1996 against Finland (2-0). He closed the chapter with a meager record compared to others: an honorary victory in the 1988 Tournament of France and a forgotten Kirin Cup in 1994. We do not think of him in 1998 when France climbs on the roof of the world.
Apart from the France team, Bruno Martini was the goalkeeper of two clubs: Auxerre and Montpellier. Born in Nevers on January 25, 1962, he is a pure product of the Burgundian training simmered by Guy Roux who worked wonders in the 1980s. Bruno Martini arrived in Auxerre in 1981 when François Mitterrand came to power.
Loaned to Nancy from 1983 to 1985, he left AJA 14 years and 386 games later after winning a Coupe de France in 1994 and playing a UEFA Cup semi-final the same year against Dortmund. He left in 1995 at the dawn of the Auxerre club’s best season, which won the Coupe-Championship double in 1996 with Laurent Blanc and Corentin Martins.
Vice-world champion on the bench in 2006
At that time, he was in Montpellier with whom he ended his playing career in 1999 after 492 Ligue 1 games, 58 in the Coupe de France and 31 in the European Cups. A beautiful and long career.
She continues as a coach and it is with her that Bruno Martini has built his greatest record. He joined the National Technical Directorate (DTN) in 2001. He is above all the coach of the goalkeepers of the France team between 1999 and 2010 with Roger Lemerre, Jacques Santini and Raymond Domenech.
He was there in 2000 when the Bleus de Deschamps were European champions. He is still there in 2006 when the Blues of Zidane are finalists for the World Cup. He left in 2010 and joined Montpellier. He provided a short interim as head coach with Pascal Baills in December 2015. It was there that he died on October 20.
Having emerged from the competition to become a physical education teacher, he was also a great chess player, a lover of classical music and a lover of reading: Goethe, Gide, Céline or Montherlant had no secrets for him.
Up there, he must have already found a ball to play with Stéphane Paille or Henri Michel who were waiting for him, without being in a hurry to see him again.
