Sacred Habib Beye. Gifted with the gift of ubiquity. The art of being in two places in an instant. With a finely trimmed beard, glasses on his nose, the elegant forty-something (48 years old) held a lecture this Thursday at the desk at La Commanderie. Two steps away, on his left, here he is now clinging on, in white from jersey to shoes, much younger, facing this splendid southern bend, repainted in the colors of Marseille and Provence. On May 6, 2004, escorted by his friend Didier Drogba and number 23, the dashing twenty-year-old would wage an epic battle with the legend Alan Shaerer, in the UEFA Cup semi-final.
With the exception of the commercial operation promoting the 125th anniversary collector’s jersey, a huge family photo mixing imperishable glories (Skoblar, Niang, Papin, Caminiti) and forgettable contemporaries (Murillo, Luis Henrique…), only the greatest, or emblematic, have the honor of adorning this press room. Waddle, Boli, Lucho, Heinze, Völler, Deschamps, Ravanelli, Papin, Valbuena… and therefore, with their backs to the entrance of the teams, the inseparable duo of the legendary 2003-04 season, Drogba-Beye.
Beye-Drogba-Meriem the European axis
Eighteen years and six months later, Habib Beye is back home…
