France-Algeria 2001 – Omar Belbey for Eurosport: “As the match approached, we felt that it reeked of confusion”

“This France-Algeria match was special for me. My parents arrived in France when they were young and I was born here (note: in Rouen). Since I was little, my wish was to evolve with the Algerian national team. As a cadet, I had been selected with the Fennecs. I had left without saying anything to my club. On my return, they wanted to send me to the junior pre-selection with the French team to Clairefontaine: I said I couldn’t go and when we found out that I had already joined the Algerian team, it got me two months of suspension.

Before this meeting on October 6, 2001, I was feeling excited. On paper, it was a big match, heavy: you played the world and European champion. All French players played in the biggest European clubs at the time. It was a challenge for us to measure ourselves against them. But on the other hand, there was also apprehension. As the match approached, we felt that it reeked of confusion. The print and television media came to interview us at our hotel. In relation to the questions asked, we felt that it was no longer in the sports field. We were entering a political context. The Algerian war was mentioned. We were there to play football, not to play politics. The atmosphere was heavy and it bothered me a lot.

Before entering the field, we felt watched, watched, even judged. At the time of the hymns, it was weird to see that Algeria’s was taken up by almost all of the Stade de France and that the hymn of the host country, namely France, was whistled. These whistles, I saw them badly. It was a lack of respect. I told myself that I would not like us to whistle the Algerian anthem. Me, I have Algerian and French nationality. I opted for Algeria because it was my wish when I was younger.

On the match itself, it was complicated because we were dealing with the France team, a very well-established team. We, our team were gradually being put in place at the time. Our caretaker was not having a good day. We had taken two cap goals. After that, there was nothing to say, they were superior to us. Even if, in my opinion, the score (4-1) did not fully reflect the content of the match, because we looked good … In the public, as soon as the Algerian players made two passes, it was “olé olé “, and when the Blues had a little long conservation, they were whistled. You might be in your game, you couldn’t ignore it all. This added a problem to the already existing problem.

When I saw the first person cross the field, I thought to myself: ‘what the hell is she doing here? I still remember how she was dressed, so impressed me: a sort of bandana, a national team t-shirt and light jeans. The stewards caught up with him and then it came in from everywhere. We went from actors to spectators. The roles had been reversed. Then afterwards, it became unmanageable.

Lilian Thuram had caught a guy telling him he was doing anything. ‘You prove them right,’ he kept repeating, referring to people who said the match sucked. Then, I go back to the locker room, I am behind two players from the France team, whose names I will not mention. One of them said: ‘We knew it was going to be like this with them’. In our locker room after the match, it was desolation. We say to ourselves that we are going to take a lot of money. And the events of this match automatically reflected on the presidential election of 2002 (note: Jean-Marie Le Pen had been qualified for the second round). Invading the field was a demand. But they did not understand that they were adding a sauce to all their problems. These kids used this game to show their hatred against society. Twenty years later, I still have that bitter taste in my mouth.

The 1998 black-blanc-beur saying? It was window dressing. This October 6, we fell back into the past. There, they were young people of immigrant origin who claimed problems they were going through in a country where they did not recognize themselves. This invasion of land was premeditated, it did not happen with a snap of the fingers. I resented them enormously because they ridiculed us (he insists on each syllable) in the eyes of all. These supporters gave the stick to get beaten. And we beat ourselves up at the same time. It got us mad. Because Algeria is not that.

Should this match have taken place? Yes, but without all the extras that had no place. In the media, there were strong titles for a football match, it was borderline if we went to war. It was all put back on the mat to raise the sauce. While it was still sport. The stakes of that day were more political than sporting. We in 1962 (note: the year of the independence of Algeria), we were not born. What happened before, we have been told but we have not experienced it.