Helenio Herrera discovered him in a game in a Casablanca prison camp when he was attending a coaching course and took him to the Stade Franais
The France-Morocco match brings to mind the figure of a player who, according to the old chronicles, would have been, in the current times of overwhelming information and dissemination, a star with worldwide repercussions: Larbi Ben Barek. Moroccan and French. And a legendary figure in Atlético de Madrid at the end of the 40s and first half of the 50s, in that glass forward, delicate, transparent in her game, made up of Juncosa, Prez Payhimself, Carlsson and Escudero.
Its myth stems in part from the chronological nebula of its origins. He was born in Casablanca. But it is not known for sure when: in 1914, 1915, 1916 or 1917. He went from playing barefoot on the street to Casablanca, in the Second Division; and, immediately, in the First Division, to US Marocain, where he spent three seasons and with which he won the League.
Morocco was then a French Protectorate and it was the most natural thing in the world for Ben Barek to play in the metropolis. Recal in the Olympique de Marseille. The outbreak of the Second World War returned him to Morocco, to his previous club, Marocain, to earn 100 francs per game, which was barely enough to prevent the rapid decline of his meager savings.
The coach of the Stade Franais, in the Gallic Second Division, then appears in his busy life, a newly appointed young coach, who combined both positions, the France coach. He is such… Helenio Herrerawho traveled to Casablanca in 1945 invited to a coaching course.
She attends a match between Moroccans and Italian prisoners and falls in love with Ben Barek. He tries to convince him to return to France, naturally to the team he leads. But Ben Barek is not amused by playing in the Second Division. Finally, Herrera persuades him and, with Larbi in his ranks, the Stade returns to First Division and reaches the semifinals of the Cup. When the Stade plays a friendly at the Metropolitano on May 6, 1948, someone in the box, perhaps the president himself Cesreo Galndez, exclaims: “You have to sign the black!”.
And “the black”, who was 34 years old if he had been born in 1914, and 31 if he had been born in 1917, he stayed at the Metropolitano for six seasons. They won two Leagues, played 114 games and scored 58 goals. He was technically exquisite, he handled both legs and shot dry and hard. People filled the fields to veil. Then, at the age he was, in 1954, he returned to France, to Marseille. And from 55 to 57, he ended up tumbling in three Moroccan clubs.
It was a national idol. In 1958 he was named Moroccan coach, the first after the independence of the country. He didn’t succeed. He was international with Morocco. But, this being a Protectorate, it only played friendly matches. With France he played official matches. Few, 17, because then there was not so much transfer of Selections. Even so, he holds the French record for longest international cap: 15 years and 10 months. From 1938 to 1954.
In football he could have done better if, of course, there had been no war. In life it went wrong. He was born poor and died even poorer. There was no one left for him, neither his two wives, nor his children, who left before him. Neither do friends. He died alone in his house. When they found his body, in September 1992, he had been dead for several days.
He had a popular tribute at the burial and some time later the authorities renamed the renovated Casablanca stadium with his name. FIFA awarded him posthumously, in 1998, its highest distinction: the Order of Merit.
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