The majority of our squad are currently on international duty with many trying to help their respective nations qualify for Euro 2016. France is the venue for that tournament and with a little over 18 months to go until it begins, we caught up with Loic Remy before he headed off to represent Les Bleus, with the discussion revolving around his country on the big stage… On 12 July 1998 Didier Deschamps – a future Chelsea player and the current manager of France – lifted the World Cup trophy high into the Parisian sky. Brazil had been emphatically beaten 3-0 in the final at the Stade de France and, on home soil, France were crowned world champions for the first time. Just over 4,000 miles away, on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, an aspiring young footballer was watching events unfold on television. It was an afternoon an 11-year Loic Remy would not forget in a hurry. ‘I was in my country of origin, Martinique,’ the striker recalls. ‘It’s a little Caribbean island. I was with my grandfather, who is a big fan of the national team and I was able to watch most of the games with him. ‘We were both so happy when France won the World Cup. It was a very good moment in my earliest football memories. I was only a boy then but I can’t forget that. I remember it being very good for the country. Now we are hosting the Euros and I think that will be great for the people in France and for the country as a whole. It’s a big competition and we are proud to be hosting the tournament.’ That victorious French team of 1998 is remembered for many reasons: its unerring knack of scoring crucial goals at critical times, for example, or its fearsome defence that conceded just twice. Chelsea, of course, had our own French World Cup stars that year. Frank Leboeuf was a longstanding member of the Stamford Bridge backline, while Marcel Desailly had signed just before the showpiece tournament got underway. Both started the final. Emmanuel Petit as well as Deschamps would later join the ranks of the Blues’ Les Bleus. ‘Desailly was a defender who had a big impact for the national team,’ Remy says. ‘I think he is one of the best defenders to have ever played for France. He made so many appearances; he won the World Cup, the Euros. ‘Leboeuf too was a good defender. I guess they are very good memories for them and if I can, I will try to have the same sensation and try to help my country win, in this case the Euros. These kinds of player are an example for me. They played in a big team, they were important players and I have to try to inspire myself from them.’ As part of the preparation that goes into hosting a major championships, a number of new stadia have been built in France ahead of Euro 2016. Many others, including the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, have been, or are in the process of being, upgraded. Remy’s parents emigrated from Martinique to France and it was there, in the eastern city of Lyon, that the future footballing star grew up. His first club, Olympique Lyonnais, is constructing a new stadium which will host one of the Euro 2016 semi-finals along with other matches in the tournament. Marseille, where Remy not so long ago spent two years playing and where Chelsea have twice competed in our Champions League past, will also play host to France’s second group game at the tournament, and, if all goes to plan, their semi-final, too. ‘The capacity of the Velodrome is a little higher now,’ reports the 27-year-old. ‘They’ve closed the stadium so the atmosphere is very loud in there. We have some good new stadiums in France and they have also developed other ones, like the Velodrome, so we’ll be able to host all the teams.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 19:15:08 +0000