AWhen composing his “legendary eleven” from Paris Saint-Germain, did Neymar hum this Jeanne Moreau aria “I have a failing memory, I remember very well”? To choose his team, the Brazilian player took care not to go back too far: 1992 for the oldest Parisian (Weah). For a club born in 1970, amnesia is important. Who do we find in this “11”? Buffon, whose season at PSG resulted in a terrible haircut (several fatal errors in important matches); Beckham, whose six months are more in the marketing department than in sports; Ibrahimovic, whose 180 games have certainly given birth to 156 goals, but without crossing the European level.
You don’t have to be a great clerk, or a football specialist, to see that it is at best cronyism between Brazilians (6 out of 12), at worst a grim ignorance of the club that pays for it. Where are Bernard Lama, Dominique Rocheteau, Rai or David Ginola, whose imprint on the history, on the game and on the European track record of PSG is much more important than that of Nenê (yes, there is!) Or Dani Alves (two years of early retirement which will not have marked the memories)?
The special Paris Saint-Germain ́ @Neymar Jr, on the occasion of the club’s 5⃣0⃣ years ❤️ pic.twitter.com/yt10qxfYJf
– Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) January 24, 2021
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Mirror of society
We hear the defenders of the most expensive player in the history of the club: “He talks about the players he knows. “Whether Neymar does not know Safet Sušić or Mustapha Dahleb is still happening – and still, YouTube exists! -, but the erasure of PSG before Qatar reveals an absence of culture and attachment to the club. Can you imagine a FC Barcelona player forgetting Johan Cruyff in his “legendary eleven”? Can we believe that AC Milan or Liverpool would miss a composition where Paolo Maldini, van Basten, Keegan or Gerrard would be absent? PSG could (should) have gone back behind the choices of its talented, but amnesiac, player.
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Let’s not throw stones at Neymar – we could hurt him. He is not the only one. In the “foot circus”, we think that the history of the club begins with the signing of his contract. Football is a (not so distorting) magnifying glass of society; and as much to say that the notion of roots and historical continuity escapes many contemporaries. In 2014, before France and Germany in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, when the idea of a revenge for Seville 1982 was mounting, Didier Deschamps, whom we knew more inspired, dared: “The players were not born. And, when you weren’t born, well, you weren’t born. ” Is. But the rivalries, the history of the club, the great figures are part of the common heritage that we pass on from generation to generation to maintain the feeling of belonging to our team. Like in a family. It is hard to imagine grandparents or great-grandparents being erased from the lineage (and from the family furniture) because the grandchildren were not born. There are legends and myths to maintain. What Formula 1 can do, which celebrated its 70th birthday last year by staging its great figures (ditto for Scuderia Ferrari). Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel constantly refer to the history of their discipline. The same goes for Roger Federer, able to talk about tennis matches that took place while the rackets were still made of wood …
Looking again at Neymar’s “legendary eleven”, we will note that, despite his omissions, the “nugget” remains lucid: he did not put himself in the list …
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