Thirty-eight years ago, in 1982, the final of the Coupe de France pitted Paris Saint-Germain, a young club created twelve years earlier, against AS Saint-Étienne, a great team from the 1970s. This match features an unlikely scenario: overtime, Dominique Rocheteau equalizer for PSG in the 120th minute, field invasion, penalty shootout. Christian Lopez, defender and captain of the Greens, and Jean-Marc Pilorget, Parisian defender, relive the meeting that has become legend.
Did you have the opportunity to watch this legendary final on television?
Christian Lopez: Yes, not long ago (on the L’Équip Channele).
Jean-Marc Pilorget: I also saw her again during confinement. My nephew said to me, “Uncle, you are on TV!
What did you think of it?
JMP: There are two, inseparable, for me: my penalty, because it is that of victory, of the first Paris title, of my first title. And then there is Francis Borelli (then president of PSG), because… There you go. (He pauses). He’s been more than a president to me. He was a spiritual father. And I still have great affection for this man.
CL: Personally, the first thing that moved me was the intensity, the good aggressiveness of this meeting. It went from goal to goal, it just didn’t stop.
JMP: It is true ! And that was a big surprise, because usually when you watch the games of our generation, you don’t feel like it is moving forward. There, it’s a final where it played fast. And then, there was so much in this match …
CL: That’s clear and that’s what made this game famous. Already, there is the invasion of the ground for more than half an hour (after Rocheteau’s equalizer in the last moments of extra time).
JMP: Today the final is postponed if that happens.
CL: Ah that … And then there is Dominique’s goal (Rocheteau), the first penalty of the penalty shootout to be withdrawn because the goalkeeper moved… It was true that it was a good final.
JMP: Besides, it’s your last and it’s my first!
ASSE were playing their fifth final in eight years, which was the first in PSG history … How did you prepare for it?
CL: We had lost the league title a week before, on the last day. It was important to win this final. We didn’t have any more pressure than usual, because we were still used to playing in matches of this level. On the other hand, in our team, there were quite a few young people, who were not used to these high-stakes games. I am thinking of Laurent Paganelli, Laurent Roussey, Patrice Lestage, Jean-Louis Zanon or Jean Castaneda. Afterwards, I always said: in Saint-Étienne, we were educated to win.
JMP: We were completely new to it. We were under pressure because we had been waiting for a first title for a long time. Then let’s face it: we played against the best team for a number of years.
CL: You too had a great team in the making, with very good players. There were still Dominique Rocheteau and Dominique Bathenay who had played with us before.
JMP: “Babat ‘and Dominique were two experienced players. They were there to reassure us, to play the big brothers. They had a leading role in the preparation. “
What was the atmosphere there that evening at the Parc des Princes?
CL: It was curious, we were in Paris, but there were as many supporters from PSG as from Saint-Étienne.
JMP: If not!
CL: It is true that we were popular in the capital. And again, it was not the same as in my other finals at the Park. In 1974, 1975 and 1977, the stadium was all set for ASSE.
JMP: In any case, it was a good-natured atmosphere. On and off the pitch, it’s a great pleasure.
The pace of the first period is jerky. You return to the locker room at 0-0 …
CL: It’s true that there are not that many opportunities. At home, Michel Platini was playing more advanced than usual, like a 9. He was isolated at the point. In the second period, when Laurent Roussey entered, he was able to win, regain his position of ten and weigh on the game.
JMP: And it was better than when he was playing higher! Georges Peyroche (PSG coach) had put Jean-Claude Lemoult in individual marking on Platini.
Why was Platini playing so high?
CL: Laurent Roussey, the other striker, was young, he started on the bench. Our environment was functioning well and was in place, so Robby (Herbin, the Stéphanois coach) had placed Michel in front. Then you had to adapt to George Peyroche’s system, which was ultra-offensive, with five attackers. But we also had an offensive team.
JMP: You just needed the first goal to start the match (he was scored by PSG striker Nambatingue Toko in the 58th minute of play).
CL: It is clear that afterwards it was going! There were no more defensive midfielders. Today, there is a lot of talk about verticality in football. There, it was depth, all the time.
Despite Lemoult’s individual scoring, Michel Platini equalized (76 ’) then scored the goal 2-1 in overtime (99’) …
JMP: The talent, what. He was really strong.
CL: What is it Michel!
JMP: Moreover, when I think back to that final and to Michel, I remember the behavior of some people in the stands because he was leaving Saint-Étienne (for Juventus Turin)…
CL: Oh, that we never talk about but it is true that it was terrible.
JMP: We can trim the player, I can imagine. But attacking the man, no. I did not know him, I was his opponent but I was still outraged. Afterwards, he responded on the ground.
In the 120th minute of play, ASSE is still ahead. Then…
CL: We lose a high ball, I think Johnny Rep has it. Instead of keeping it, he attempts a dribble and loses it. Then, we are caught on a beautiful action …
JMP:… Right side, yes. Ivica Surjak is overflowing …
CL:… I am supposed to cover the near post but I am lobbed by the center and the ball hits Dominique Rocheteau. And there, half-flight, skylight. This goal reminds me of the one he scored against Kiev (in the quarter-final of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1976).
JMP: Not false !
CL: Afterwards, when we see the action again, Gérard Janvion is sucked in by the game and goes to the center. Suddenly, there are two Parisians able to take the ball back. Besides, Jean-Marc, wouldn’t you be the second?
JMP: Yes Yes. Fortunately Rocheteau takes it back and scores because I don’t know if I could have done as well (laughs). We were all boarding and it paid off. We never stopped believing in it but it was unexpected! And when we score, it goes live in all directions. These are joys that only Cup matches can bring. The public invades the lawn. But we weren’t afraid, because it was really non-aggressive.
CL: Good kid, I would even say.
JMP: The supporters stayed for a while, half an hour anyway.
CL: Yes, but they were well educated. When we asked them to come in, they came back quietly so that they could watch the shots on goal.
Exactly, the shots on goal. Before 1982, the match was to be replayed in the event of extra time. There, it was the penalties that separated you. Did you prepare them?
JMP: Not too much, but we were coming out of a penalty shootout in the semi-final three days earlier (against Tours, 0-0, 2-1 tab).
CL: We neither. It was more by feeling. Robby (Herbin) was asking who felt to shoot them. For the top five, it was relatively easy. But the sixth shooter, he asks the question and there, my teammates turn their backs on me. Yet there was Laurent Roussey, who entered the second period, who was a striker. There was Raul Nugez who had experience, Gérard Janvion, who pulled them sometimes. Me never ! The last time, it had to go back to a Gambardella final! But hey, I’ve been there … When I go to the ball, I wonder where I’m going to put it. When you see my shot, you can tell I wasn’t psychologically ready. I choose the middle, but Baretelli (PSG goalkeeper) comes out of the foot. When I saw him again, I thought to myself that I had shot really badly!
JMP: It is exactly the same for us. Peyroche asks us who feels like pulling him. Me, from the first, I feel it well and I raise my finger. But I don’t know if he doesn’t see me or if he doesn’t want to see me, but he never points to me. As I raised my hand every time! At the end, I thought to myself, it’s okay, I’m going!
And you score the goal of the first PSG title.
JMP: (He repeats). I score the title goal. And there, very quickly, there is Francis (Borelli) is the first to fall into my arms. It was a very brief but intense hug. We looked at each other and said “Thank you” to each other. There was no need for more.
CL: During that time, we couldn’t go to the locker room. We had to stay on the pitch because even the losers have a medal. It was long…
JMP: I find that not terrible as a protocol.
CL: I stay a moment to rehash this missed penalty. Of course, it was difficult, but I didn’t want to show it.
What place does this penalty shootout occupy in your lives?
CL: Later, I was criticized for having deliberately missed mine because I was about to start. Missing a penalty in the Coupe de France final on purpose … Anything!
JMP: For me, it is THE vivid memory. Almost forty years later, I am almost only told about this match to sum up my career. It’s my fondest football memory and it keeps people talking about me from time to time, it’s nice.
How was the night after this final?
JMP: This is private (to laugh). But we had a party. There was no social media back then, and luckily …
CL: It was not the same atmosphere for us. There was a party organized, just in case, but it was very sad …
What does this final represent in the history of both clubs?
CL: 1982 is a bit of an end for the Greens. Platini is leaving, other players who have been around for a long time, too, like me (In Toulouse). A new era is dawning, but without the results, and with the slush fund affair.
JMP: PSG was a young club. Before this final, during our travels, there was a certain classic rivalry between the capital and the province. We were laughed at because we were Paris, with resources, but we had no result. This final was the first step that started to change the mentality of people towards PSG.
Thirty-eight years later, what’s your prognosis for Friday night’s final?
JMP: I’m going to say a Paris victory.
CL: And I, one from Saint-Étienne, to balance. Yes Yes. You know, a game is never played in advance. Of course, when you compare the numbers, there is no picture. But we never know. In any case, both teams score a lot of goals during their preparation.
JMP: Hopefully a 4-4 and penalties. We want a show!