Contacted by our editorial staff, those who knew Bruno Martini, who died on Tuesday, do not hide their emotion.
Lionel Charbonnier, goalkeeper, former partner at Auxerre
“With Bruno, we were very close.
He was a very endearing person.
Bruno was in the continuity of what my brother and Marian Szeja had brought me
(Editor's note: his first trainers)
.
I lost my brother not long ago and today Bruno.
My brother was the basics and Bruno the professionalism.
There has never been competition between us for ten years.
It's a bit like my second brother.
I had Joël Bats and then Bruno.
Two completely different visions: intuitive Jo, in the anticipation and feelings of the game, which I was closer to.
Bruno Cartesian, a lot of work, ahead of his time.
It was already in the statistics 20 years ago.
As is often the goalkeeper, he was a little misunderstood but somehow he was a visionary.
He helped me become what I am.
He was a little reserved, who didn't like to make noise, and preferred to smoke a cigarette rather than go to conflict.
"
Joël Bats, goalkeeper, former teammate in Auxerre and in the French team
“It's not easy to talk about it.
I just went for a walk in the woods and only thought of him.
He was a very endearing person, very meticulous, very methodical.
Me, I was more instinctive, he had to get everything tidy and in order.
When there was something wrong or he didn't like, he could be very upset.
He was a man of principle and values.
After his career, he chose the French team, and he was made for this role, he classified everything, counted everything.
This is also what Hugo Lloris told me when he came back from selection and we said hello from a distance.
Each exercise was prepared down to the second.
He counted each repetition, and recovery times per second when I was more feeling-driven.
I remember having eaten once at his place, and we had to put on the skates to enter.
That was Bruno, it makes me smile, it illustrates how meticulous he could be, he was an endearing man.
It is incomprehensible, terrible, incredible.
I was amazed when I heard the news of his accident.
It is a great sadness.
"
Roger Lemerre, coach of the France team (2000 - 2002) of which Bruno Martini was the goalkeeper coach at the time
“I learned unfortunately.
I keep the memory of a man of a correction and an exemplary nature never lacking.
He was next to me and I only have to praise his services.
It's great to have met him.
I am losing a friend.
He was doing his job remarkably.
In a locker room, it was a pleasure to be next to him.
I'm very emotive.
He was 58, I'm 80. His commitment was not feigned.
Football and Montpellier lose an example.
"
Pascal Olmeta, goalkeeper, former partner in the French team
“Say that Bruno was a big one.
I was in contact with Marie his wife.
We hoped that with his strength, he could get out of it but “Riton”
(Henri Emile, former manager of the France team)
left me a message to tell me that our Bruno had left.
Holy shit life!
Leaving at 58 is terrible.
Bruno was family and you never get enough of the people you love.
Losing a guy as nice as him is a tragedy.
We called him "the intellectual" our Bruno.
His disappearance hurts me a lot.
We were from the same brotherhood, that of the goalkeepers and Bruno was the complete opposite of Pascal Olmeta: he was the quiet force with his book, his glasses.
I loved this guy.
"
Corentin Martins, former partner at AJ Auxerre
“I feel great sadness because I appreciated him a lot.
When I arrived in Auxerre (in 1991), I was young and he was already there.
He was discreet, benevolent and very simple.
He was also a very great goalkeeper who may not have had the record that his talent deserved.
His disappearance is terribly brutal and suddenly.
We are all knocked out.
"