On Friday March 3, 2017, a black veil fell on world football. Raymond Kopaszewski, the tricolor Napoleon, joined the paradise of the stars with crampons. At 85, the illness which had marked him closely for several months was the measure of his stubborn courage.
The funeral of Raymond Kopa, the little miner of Nœux-les-Mines, who enchanted the Stade de Reims and Real Madrid, took place five days later at the Saint-Maurice cathedral in Angers, in the presence of more than a thousand people, including the president of Real, Florentino Perez, that of the French Federation, Noël Le Graët, and the Minister of Sports, Patrick Kanner.
Statufie
« He is a football legend who is leaving, declared the President of the Republic, François Hollande. He combined the intelligence of the game with a remarkable technique. He was one of the most admired sportsmen in France “. Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve pays tribute ” at the first French Ballon d’Or, a great footballer and a lover of the beautiful game ».
LIEN:watch
Raymond Kopa played twelve years – in two periods – for the Stade de Reims (287 matches; 42 goals). With the Champagne club, the French “maestro” was a finalist in the Champions Clubs Cup in 1956, won the Latin Cup in 1957, was four times champion of France (1953, 1955, 1960, 1962), and won the Cup. Drago in 1954.
Among the Red and Whites, “RK” highlighted his talents as a dribbler and passer, his innate sense of offensive and sometimes flamboyant play. It was in Reims that he received, on 5 February 2011, from the hands of Michel Platini, the “2010 UEFA President’s Award”.
It is also in Reims, in front of the Auguste-Delaune stadium, that since December 15, 2018, a statue bearing the effigy of the “Mozart” of football has throne.
We will come back to this anniversary in our sports notebook for next Monday
– .
