Marseille travels to Lisbon on Thursday, April 11 to face Benfica in the Europa League quarter-finals. The poster clearly commemorates the painful memory of Marseille's elimination by the same Portuguese team, in the semi-final of the European Champion Clubs' Cup on 18 April 1990, with a very controversial goal that has remained a hand-scored goal through the ages. FATA (1-0).
Thirty-four years later, this painful memory for the people of Marseille, RMC Sport He invited the Portuguese footballer on Monday in the program Rothen s'igne. The Portuguese faced, for the first time since that famous match, Eric De Meco, the Marseille defender who was watching the Portuguese during this unforgettable encounter.
'Shock like Battiston's attack'
“We repeat, it has been 34 years. This hand and this work entered into a football legendHe immediately remembers the former Marseille defender. For us French, it's a bit like Battiston's aggression in the World Cup, Maradona's Hand of God. For the people of Marseille, it is a shock. I always say that this competition is very difficult to win, so you have to struggle to win it. And this episode in Benfica, in the largest stadium in Europe, in an amazing atmosphere… We had to achieve the result in front of 120,000 spectators. I was marking work. I see it immediately when he makes the signal to score the goal. In fact, except for (Jean) Castañeda and me, not many of us have ever seen the Hand of Fata. »
The Portuguese completely denies having his hands on him: “The player who was next to me was De Mico. He was the one who was left behindhe remembers. Before the ball arrived, he was attached to me and pushed me. I have taken this step. He came with me but was always behind me. It was right next door. When the ball arrived, there was a very strong wind on the field and the ball was very fast. I didn't have time to think. De Mico was with me, and he had his hand on me. The way I position my chest, the side of the shoulder… I learned in school that there is the hand, the shoulder, the chest, the head… No, I didn't make a mark with my hand. If it had been the hand, the ball would not have been so fast. »
Fata: “Why would I lie?”
The exchanges between the players on the air are entertaining more than 30 years later. But none of them give up: “If you mean I made a mistake in monitoring or I caught you, no problem, I always knew that“, confirms Eric De Meco. I'm playing the shot badly. But the pictures are still terrible! Did you see them again anyway? »
For his part, Fata claims that he is telling the truth: “Even today I tell you the truth. We were young. When I talk to you now, I don't have police officers sitting next to me. I'm alone. I'm free to speak. If it were by hand why would I lie? »
Di Mico gives the example of Maradona, the hand of God on the English: “Maradona never said that he made this hand, he said it was the hand of God, and he never recognized it. You know that sometimes it is the subconscious that makes you think that you did not do something that you should not have done. If you show the video to 10 people, all 10 will tell you it's identical.”
The Portuguese, trapped on the plateau, will not admit that he scored a goal with his own hand.
Read also. video. What is the value of Benfica, Marseille's rival in the Europa League quarter-finals?
At the time, this controversial goal sparked controversy reaching the highest level in the country. Bernard Tapie, president of Marseille, was the first to lose his nerve. “Now I know how to win the European Cup! “, he stated privately to journalists. In the days that followed, in France, the angry press attacked the referee, the Angolan striker, the Portuguese club, UEFA and the whole world. It was already campaigning for the use of video. At the highest summit of the state, Prime Minister Michel asked Rocard is vocal about the circumstances under which he ran the meeting.
This is all history now. But for Marseille, the confrontation against Benfica always carries the taste of revenge.
