A selection for entry into the club of seven?
If he plays against Finland on Wednesday, Mönchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram will join a reduced list: that of the sons of former Blues who have become in turn international.
In addition to the most famous Youri Djorkaeff, son of Jean Djorkaeff (48 capes), we also count the late Pierre Pleimelding, Yannick Stopyra, Jean Gallice, Didier Sénac and Patrice Rio.
All have lived this rare moment when a first selection allows to create a blue dynasty.
For them, this precious moment should be savored by Thuram.
“My father had only one selection in 1951, remembers Jean Gallice.
Sometimes, with my brother, we would take out his jersey from the closet to train with it.
My father said:
A jersey like this has to be earned.
I thought about that sentence when I was called in 1974. For a long time, I was obsessed with the idea of being selected.
That day, I also felt like I was becoming myself and no longer just being the
son of.
"
In psychology, we say that it is "to kill the father to assert oneself".
For Gallice, Marcus Thuram faces a tougher task.
“His father is a monument of football, the record holder of the selections (142).
At least the kid knows he won't do better.
Somewhere, he will put himself another challenge: score more goals than Lilian
(Editor's note: two)
in Blue.
He just needs to savor this selection as a pleasure.
"
"He must play as if he were in a club"
The match with his father, the Nantes native Patrice Rio led him for a long time in the tricolor jersey.
Roger Rio was selected 18 times between 1933 to 1937. Patrice stopped at 15 capes… “I dreamed of beating him, he smiles.
But when you're in the field, you don't think about your family.
For Marcus Thuram, it will be very simple.
He must play as if he were in a club.
He does not come from nowhere but from one of the best clubs in the Bundesliga.
Football is less complicated than you think.
"
The most shared remains Yannick Stopyra, former center-forward for the Blues between 1980 and 1988. “Whether we like it or not,
son of
is a very difficult status to bear because you are constantly compared to the qualities of your father and never to its flaws, he said.
Marcus Thuram, even if he does not occupy the same position, will not escape this.
We will look at the attitude, the charisma to compare to those of Lilian.
For Stopyra, Lilian's attitude will be decisive for the future.
“When I started against Greece in 1980, I scored.
It was huge.
My father was in the stands and at the end a journalist asked him if he was happy with my performance.
He replied:
I never tell him when it's good
.
At that time, it was frowned upon for fathers to show their feelings.
I hope Lilian was different.
"
For Stopyra, Marcus Thuram will nevertheless know how to manage his emotions.
"It will be strange for him at the hotel, for the delivery of the shirts or even when arriving at the Stade de France," he believes.
But as soon as you warm up, it will be over.
I have already faced relatives.
I loved them until kickoff.
Then they were just adversaries.
When he plays, Marcus Thuram will be Marcus.
Not Lilian.
"