Some will interpret it as a happy omen.
Forty years after their triumphant success at the Los Angeles Olympics, the Blues of football, heroes of the Californian epic, will, according to our information, be present on March 20 in Saint-Denis, at the Paris 2024 headquarters, on the occasion of the draw for the men's and women's Olympic tournaments.
We will find, in particular, Daniel Xuereb, the former Marseille and PSG striker, author of one of the two goals in the final against Brazil (2-0).
Guy Lacombe, the former Parisian coach, Patrick Cubaynes and Jean-Claude Lemoult and Philippe Jeannol, two other PSG figures, will also be among the guests.
The team coached, then, by Henri Michel, who died in 2018, offered France its first and only gold medal to date in football.
To reach their Grail, the tricolors had dismissed Egypt in the quarter-final (2-0), then Yugoslavia in the semi-final (4-2 ap) before, therefore, extinguishing the ambitions of the Seleçao at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.
Men in Aix, women in Lyon
For the men, sixteen countries will be competing, divided into four groups of four.
The first two will continue their journey in a knockout phase from the quarter-finals.
The protégés of Thierry Henry, who hopes to be able to rely in particular on Kylian Mbappé, will play their group phase in Marseille (July 24 and 30) and Nice (July 27).
This is why the FFF, as revealed on our site on December 11, chose its base camp at the Mercure Aix-en-Provence Sainte-Victoire hotel, located in Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, with a capacity of 61 rooms.
It will benefit from the facilities of the Gardi stadium in the town of Trets.
This sports complex, renovated in recent years, is located just 15 minutes from the Mercure hotel.
If France reaches the quarter-finals, set for Bordeaux or Paris on August 2 depending on its ranking, different options remain, for the moment, possible, one leading to a return to Clairefontaine in the hypothesis of a quarter-final at Park or participation in the final or the classification match.
On the women's side, twelve countries will be involved, four per group, before, again, playing in the quarter-finals.
The Bleues will play their group matches in Lyon and Saint-Étienne.
They will take up residence in Lyon at the Ruck Hôtel de Gerland where the All Blacks stayed during the Rugby World Cup and will train at Tola Vologe on the former OL facilities.