Who says PSG legend, says Ronaldinho, Rai, Zlatan or even Mbappé.
Yet it was he who wrote the first lines of the history of the capital club.
Dominique Rocheteau is not the most common name among the new generation of Parisian supporters but he will have left his mark on the French Championship, initially with Saint-Étienne in the 1970s, his training club, then with Paris.
Last October, the former French international published his first book, “Foot Sentimental”, which he came to sign this Friday afternoon at the PSG store, near the Parc des Princes.
" It's always a pleasure.
I come to the Parc des Princes from time to time, my two youngest children are for PSG and the two oldest are supporters of Saint-Étienne.
I spent 8 years in Saint-Étienne and I still have this image of the Green Angel that sticks to my skin, but it's also nice to see that there are also generations who know that I played 7 years at PSG and scored 100 goals,” rejoiced the former striker.
Also read “We are losing the popular side of football”: Dominique Rocheteau, a book and regrets
In front of his table filled with copies of his book and adorned with a PSG jersey emblazoned with his name, dozens of people paraded, all smiles, for nearly three hours, pushing the “Green Angel” as he nicknamed, to engage in the exercise of dedication.
Among them, Stéphanois, Parisians, the youngest, the oldest who will have grown up with the vision of Dominique Rocheteau's hair, now gray, on the small screen.
“I am a PSG supporter today, but at the time in 1976 I was 10 years old and I wore the green jersey like all of France.
It's a dream to see you in real life!
», exclaims Stéphane, former classmate of Jean-Luc Vasseur, also a former Stéphanois and teammate of Rocheteau in Paris.
“In Congo, we adore you and Alain Giresse!”
If Rocheteau participated in writing the finest hours of the Greens and the Rouge et Bleu, with four French championship titles gleaned including three with the former (1974, 1975, 1976), the attacker with elegant dribbling also took part in one of the prosperous periods of the French team.
With Michel Platini, the Stéphanois striker participated in three consecutive World Cups (1978, 1982, 1986) and was even part of the historic epic of the Blues during Euro 1984, which led them to the final victory at the Parc des Princes against Spain (2-0).
“You have given us a lot.
I started supporting the French team in the 1970s with few results and when you arrived with Michel Platini, that changed everything!
» breathes Philippe, unconditional supporter of PSG.
In his book, the 69-year-old man confides in his life, his experiences and his career but returns to values that he considers lost in the evolution of modern football, denouncing the omnipresence of business, money, violence and media pressure.
“I needed to express myself on many things, particularly about my career, but always with the desire to convey.
I am reaching a certain age, and I wanted to share my experience about football but also about sport, which I am passionate about.
I am talking in particular about the evolution of football, the image of which is sometimes a little tarnished,” he regrets.
Favor the “game” more than the “I”
Because yes, the trained right winger, who became a leading striker in the capital, is a man of faith.
Which favors the “game” more than the “I”, as written on the back cover.
A symbol of fair play, generosity and wisdom.
“0 red cards, hats off, and yet we were provoking you,” remembers Frédéric, a younger ASSE supporter, then PSG.
If Dominique Rocheteau retired from professional football in 2019, after 10 years as leader of ASSE, he continues to follow this sport which drives him.
He maintains a deep attachment to the Parisian club, which he continues to observe from home, or in the stands of the Parc des Princes.
As a symbol of shared recognition, the Green Angel will give the fictional kick-off of PSG-Reims this Sunday at 1 p.m.
“Luis Enrique is doing a good job, they are well ahead in the league, qualified for the semi-final of the Coupe de France and the quarter-finals of the Champions League, they are on all counts.
We feel that the players are listening.
Unlike Manchester City or Liverpool, there have been a lot of changes of coach at PSG, and that's what PSG lacks to get a head start: continuity in the work," he said. -he commented about the season of the capital club.