Robert Pirès: "There are fewer and fewer different players"

With 79 caps and 14 goals for France, he was world champion in 1998, also of the Eurocup in 2000, and won the Premier with Arsenal de Los Invencibles - a team that did not lose any game in the entire English league 2003-04. midfielder who also went through Villarreal to take him to Europe.

Robert Pirès (Reims, France; 47 years old) loves football and that is why, after settling in Ibiza because life in England became difficult for him after Brexit and the pandemic, he decided to help Peña Deportiva, from Segunda B. He is also in a representation agency, says the Premier in BeIN and has signed with a French chain to give his opinion during the European Championship.

Before, attentive and talkative, he attends EL PAÍS.

Question.

What are you doing at the Peña Deportiva?

Answer.

My children came to play at the club and I found a humble and familiar club, so I suggested to them if they needed help in the first team because I love football.

Since then, I have helped injured people recover because I know what it means to be alone and unable to play.

Also, if they lack a player, then I start to play a little….

Wonderful!

Q.

You played for one of the best teams in France, champion of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. What was that team like?

A.

In '98, Jacquet created the ensemble and in 2000 Lemerre played absolutely nothing.

But in those two years we grew, we played more games and we gained experience.

I think that this was the best team in France because we played very well and we were invincible.

We surpass Spain, Portugal, Italy ...

P.

And in the World Cup final they beat Ronaldo's Brazil ...

R.

We were a great team at that time.

If even Zidane scored two goals with a header and look how bad he was at that type of shot… Like me!

Q.

Who was the leader of the dressing room?

R.

On the pitch Zidane, Djorkaeff, Henry… But inside, Deschamps because he liked to communicate with all the players, to act as an intermediary with the coach.

You could see that he would be a coach.

He likes to help young people and build good relationships.

That is why we won the last World Cup and now we are favorites to win the European Championship.

Deschamps is a winner as he also proved with Marseille.

P.

What do you think you have accepted the return of Benzema?

R.

It is a very good decision.

The best players go to the national team and Karim is.

He is the number one of Madrid.

It was normal to be called.

It was clear that Valbuena or Karim had to go, but both, impossible.

And Benzema is better.

Q.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of this team?

R.

The strong one, we have everything at the top: quality, tranquility, speed, technique ... Griezmann, Mbappé and Benzema are very good, but we cannot forget Coman, Dembélé either ... And the weak point is that we do not defend very well because we are up Very strong.

But the forwards must help the middle and Deschamps must work on it before the first game against Germany.

P.

Germany, Portugal and Hungary… a very tough group to start with, right?

R.

A group too serious, powerful.

Portugal is the European champion and they have one of the best in the world yet, Cristiano Ronaldo.

And it is a team that, like Spain, always costs us a lot.

Germany ... I don't know well.

They are in a time of transition.

More information

• Dembélé forgets Dembélé

• France 'pardons' Benzema

Q.

It seems, however, that Germany and France are physically superior.

A.

That's right.

It is modern football, where the physical goes before the technique.

But for me, technique will always come first.

That is why I like De Bruyne so much, because he is different and less and less different, unique players come out.

Q.

As a player, was your most difficult decision to say no to Madrid, after winning Euro 2000 and putting on the white shirt so they could take some pictures of you?

A. It

can be.

But I can't complain because I won two Leagues, three Cups, I reached a Champions League final… It is true that I was clear that I would go to Madrid.

If not, I don't take the photos.

But Wenger called me and explained where he was going to play, how and above all I remember adding: "Overmars is going to Barcelona and you are the only one who can play like him."

He convinced me like this.

With that confidence I said "okay".

People told me that you can't say no to the great Madrid… And I also belonged to Madrid as a child because my idol was Míchel.

But it went well and we had a great team with Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp… A lot of talent.

Q.

Was it the best expression of football seen in England?

R.

I do not know if it is the best team in the Premier, but when you do a season without losing a game and you become champion ... That, at least, means that you do good football.

And it's not that he's arrogant, but we considered ourselves unbeatable.

Also because those who came off the bench like Reyes, Wilcott, Ljunberg ... always gave a plus.

We were a true team.

P.

Although in training there was a lot of tension, right?

A.

You play as you train and it always seemed normal to me that there were frictions or fights in training.

Nothing happens to crash.

It also happens at games, they hit you, they insult you ... I remember Tony Adams and Martin Keown, two guys who were never joking.

They would step on my feet and say: "Shut up!"

But with the ball at your feet, you had to earn their respect.

And I was going for them and that was fine with them.

They wanted to get the best of you.

You should be prepared.

Now everything has changed, before they could smoke or drink in the locker room, while as long as you won, nothing happened.

Q.

And what was your role in that Arsenal?

R.

Play fast with the forwards.

Wenger wanted us to go after them and do it with speed.

P.

Very different from the current Manchester City of Guardiola, champion of the last Premier?

R.

I prefer Guardiola's football, but the base is the same because they always go for the defenders.

Q.

How do you remember the Champions League final lost to Barcelona in 2006?

R.

The worst sporting moment for me, because the coach changed me after the quarter of an hour, when they expelled Lehmann.

And we lost.

Wenger later apologized to me.

I couldn't answer him then ... But he made me happy that he thought like me because I believed that with my quality I could help the team.

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