The Nîmois, Olympic champion in 1984, in Los Angeles, with the French football team, evokes another era of games and a memory that marked his life. Like his time at OM.
Do the Olympic Games bring back the golden memories of 1984 every four years?
That’s for sure. It is the best memory not only of my career but also of my life. To go to Los Angeles for a month is already the dream of many people. And then we had a great adventure for three years during qualifying. We formed a group which was extraordinary in Los Angeles, which was essential because we had not had any preparation. We left for the Games just after the season.
Was it really a team of friends?
Yes, a team of friends and there were some good players. It was like the A prime. What was done best after the team of France champion of Europe.
Were you one of those who set the mood?
Me, wherever I went, I set the mood (laughs). We spent a month outside, going out, and we were Olympic champions. At the start, during the hens, we were in Napolis, in a somewhat entrenched camp, and from the quarter-finals, we went to the Olympic village. For two weeks, there, it was the fiesta, the day before the match or not the day before the match. The coach (Henri Michel, Editor’s note) was not the last to come with us. We took it as a joke and got involved as soon as we qualified for the quarterfinals.
Which match marked you the most? The final against Brazil?
No, rather the semi-final against Yugoslavia. It was still the team that had made the Euro in France a month earlier. It was more of an achievement to beat the Yugos than to beat Brazil.
Did you play little in the last few matches?
I entered at the end of the match in the final. It is true that I had played more during the group matches. Then the coach had his typical team. But that wasn’t a problem. We really were a group.
Have you carefully preserved this gold medal?
I don’t even know where she is! I’ve divorced three times, moved fifty times, I don’t know. I’m not too much of a fetishist, you know!
No French team has managed to win gold since. Does that make it a pretty iconic title?
I don’t think we’ve really been recognized for that, but every year, we have a bite to eat in Paris with former team members, every year.
Do you follow these Olympics?
Sure ! I watched the matches of the France team (eliminated in the first round, Editor’s note). Too bad. I think this team, made of odds and ends, looked a bit like us. Gignac, Savanier, they are old people but they are really winners.
Why didn’t you stay in the football world after your career?
The professional environment did not interest me but I continued to play in Villeneuve until 55 years old in seniors. There, I take care of the young people. Every weekend, I am on the grounds.
Nîmes remains your club of heart?
This is my club. I did everything there for eight years. But the new president is there to make money, his stadium, his apartments, period! He does not care … to be in Ligue 1 or Ligue 2. It is still unthinkable that we remove the training center of Nîmes Olympique. I’m sad to see this. And today, we old-timers are no longer allowed to go home. This year, it will be difficult for them.
And your two years in Montpellier?
Everywhere I went, I enjoyed myself, whether I went up, down …
Was it Louis Nicollin who convinced you to come in 1987?
When I was in Marseille, Klaus Allof used to arrive. I knew I wasn’t going to play, so I wanted to leave. Nicollin wanted me and I had two great seasons. Loulou has always mattered to me. And his sons are the same! The club has kept its soul. I am in the boxes when I go there. Montpellier still respects the elders. It remains a family club among professional clubs.
At OM, you lived the first year of President Tapie (1986-87). How was it ?
There was a hell of a team, the Giresse, Genghini, Domergue, it was practically the France team. We played in full stadiums, there was entertainment on the right, on the left. We lost the title in Nice in the last match and the Cup final against Bordeaux. It was a good season but the boss wanted to win.
Which boss was that?
He was a good football guy. Whether your name is Cubaynes or Giresse, it was the same, he didn’t care. What he wanted was to win with a good game. Sometimes we won by playing a shitty game and we did not have a bonus. On the other hand, he sometimes gave it to us when we lost after having played a good game. He still had Hidalgo with him, should not be forgotten.
Have you been elected municipal councilor in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon?
Yeah but I put myself at the bottom of the list, eh? I don’t want to be bothered with politics.
Born in Nîmes on May 6, 1960, Patrick Cubaynes hit his first balls at FC Villeneuve-lez-Avignon. It was in Nîmes Olympique that he spent most of his career scoring 20 goals in 1982-83 in D2. In 1984, he won Olympic gold in Los Angeles with the Blues. After lightning stints in Bastia then Strasbourg, he signed in 1986 in Marseille for the first season of the Tapie era then spent two seasons in the Montpellier jersey before ending his professional career in Avignon then Pau. After having run a brasserie in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, he turned to the search for partners for amateur clubs.
–
