Panasonic, Toshiba, Jonathan Rowe: these very powerful air conditioners have caused damage in the Rhône in recent days. But they are not the only ones in the history of football.
French Championship, Champions League, national teams… Air conditioning is everywhere, and, spoiler, it often hurts. Here is a small anthology of the worst (or best) scenarios in history.
1993: France – Bulgaria
After a disappointing Euro 1992, which saw Michel Platini leave his position as coach, the French team began its qualifying campaign for the 1994 World Cup with a lot of ambition: on paper, Gérard Houllier’s team looked appealing. Bernard Lama, Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc, Didier Deschamps, Eric Cantona and the 1991 Ballon d’Or winner Jean-Pierre Papin formed the core of a team normally capable of going far in the United States.
Before the last qualifying match against Bulgaria, the Blues only needed one point to validate their participation in the 94 World Cup, which they quickly glimpsed, thanks to Eric Cantona, who opened the scoring in the 32nd minute. In the process, Kostadinov equalized, but nothing more happened until the very end of the match. Instead of buying time, Ginola crossed and lost the ball. On the counter, Kostadinov sent an unstoppable shot into the top corner. Bulgaria won (1-2) against all expectations, and deprived France of a trip to the USA.
2000: France – Italy
In the Euro 2000 final, France met Italy again, two years after having eliminated them in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup. But everything did not go as planned: Italy dominated the entire match, and logically led 1-0. On the bench, the Squadra staff already started to open the champagne… but at the last second, on a long clearance from Fabien Barthez, David Trezeguet headed a ball towards Sylvain Wiltord, who equalized with a cross shot. The party was over for the Italians, who would not smell the trophy, after Trezeguet’s golden goal.
2009 : Chelsea – Barcelona
In the summer of 2008, FC Barcelona decided to promote its reserve team coach, a certain Pep Guardiola, for his first experience on a first division bench. The effect was immediate: a few months later, Barça won La Liga and the Copa del Rey without any competition, thanks to the advent of the new best player in the world, Lionel Messi, 21 years old. In the Champions League, the Blaugranas travelled to Chelsea in the semi-final. A confrontation that was going to be more complicated than expected: in the first leg at the Camp Nou, the Catalans were unable to capitalise on their domination, and could only do better than a 0-0 draw.
Barcelona arrived at Stamford Bridge with the obligation to get a result. Unfortunately, in the 9th minute of play, Michael Essien sent a 20-meter volley into the top corner of Victor Valdès’ net. Chelsea closed shop and waited patiently for the counterattacks. On one of them, Eric Abidal committed a foul as the last defender and was logically sent off. With 11 against 10, Chelsea only had to manage their advantage to create the feat and find Manchester United in the final. That was without counting on Andrés Iniesta: a few seconds before the final whistle, the Spanish midfielder was on the receiving end of a pass from Messi. At the edge of the area, his shot from the outside of the foot took a fleeting spin, which Petr Cech could not push away. Chelsea were eliminated after leading the entire match.
2017-2018: Marseille’s double air conditioning
The 2017-2018 season marked the real beginning of the McCourt era: after a transitional season, OM invested massively during the summer transfer window with the aim of returning to the Champions League and competing with the best, including PSG. And during the first Clasico, Marseille came close to achieving it: Luiz Gustavo opened the scoring in the first half, and, despite Neymar’s equaliser, OM took the lead again at the end of the match thanks to Florian Thauvin. Tempers flared, Neymar was sent off and it was hard to see how Paris could come back into the game. And yet… PSG won the last chance free kick in the 93rd minute. In Neymar’s absence, it was Edinson Cavani who took charge. His shot ended up under the bar of a helpless Steve Mandanda. The Vélodrome was reduced to silence.
The ordeal did not end there for the Marseillais: in April, the Phocéens had a 5-point lead over Lyon before their reception, and were well on their way to finishing on the podium. In any case, that is what we believed when Kostas Mitroglou appeared out of nowhere to equalize at 2-2 in the 85th minute of this Olympico. But on a long-range free kick, Mariano Diaz deflected the ball to Memphis Depay, who gave the advantage back to the Rhone. A 2-3 defeat that would seal the Champions League hopes of Dimitri Payet and his teammates.
2019: Tottenham works
10 years after his first European title with FC Barcelona, Pep Guardiola is looking to reconquer Europe, and it is at Manchester City that he has set down his suitcases for three years now. The Cityzens dominate the Premier League, but still struggle to win the C1. But this time, everything seems to be going well for Sergio Agüero and his teammates: in the quarter-finals, they face Tottenham, a team used to suffering the domination of the Skyblues in the championship. However, in the first leg, City was surprised: a missed penalty and a 1-0 defeat, which did not worry a team confident in its strength, who would have no difficulty in coming back from the score in the return leg. And yet… A few seconds from the end of a completely crazy match, Manchester City leads 4-3, and is for the moment eliminated, until Raheem Sterling’s goal. The Etihad Stadium is in meltdown, and the Englishman’s hat-trick allows it to qualify for the semi-finals. Until the VAR intervened: the goal was disallowed for an offside by Agüero, and Tottenham continued their journey.
In the semi-finals, Spurs will face the surprise of the competition, Ajax Amsterdam, who are wowing Europe with their spectacular play and young stars. In the first leg, Tottenham lost (0-1) on their home turf, and must seek a victory at the Johan Cruyff Arena to qualify. But Ajax confirms their dominance, and leads 2-0 at half-time. The match seems over: it is 3-0 on aggregate and there are only 45 minutes left to play. This is the moment chosen by Lucas Moura to play the game of his life: at the very last second, he completes his hat-trick and suddenly silences the 68,000 spectators who were already celebrating their players.
2022: Algeria – Cameroon
In March 2022, Algeria hosted Cameroon as part of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. After a victory on Cameroonian soil (0-1) in the first leg, the Algerians only had to finish the job in the return leg. But they were surprised at the start of the match by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. The match went into extra time. The minutes passed, and Algeria feared a terrible scenario in the event of a penalty shootout. In the 118th minute, the Fennecs finally found the back of the net thanks to Ahmed Touba. The stadium exploded: Algeria was only 2 minutes behind Qatar. But in stoppage time, on the last ball of the match, Karl Toko Ekambi allowed the Indomitable Lions to carry out the robbery, and to recover the ticket for Qatar.
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