France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with Marcel Desailly at the heart of their defence. Here he opens up about his early career in Marseille, his struggles to mark Dion Dublin and how he hadn’t heard of Chelsea before 1998

The years have been kind to Marcel Desailly, the one-time France captain whose career led him to some of the biggest clubs in the world, with Marseille, Milan and Chelsea benefitting from his rock-solid performances. With the exception of a few extra pounds gained – inevitable for a man now in his mid-40s – he still has an air of invincibility around him, like a gladiator who knows no fear as he strides into the room for our interview.

Desailly was born in Accra in Ghana, where, as fate would have it, his mother made a decision that irreversibly changed the course of his life; she married a French diplomat. The consequence of that union was a move to France, where the four-year-old Desailly experienced a culture far removed from what he had left behind.

Desailly started to play organised football for Nantes, who he joined as a 14-year-old, but it was only when he turned 17 and broke into the reserve team that he realised this path could lead to fame and fortune if he succeeded. He made his professional debut for Nantes in 1986 and became the fulcrum of the team while still in his teens, gaining the experience needed to smooth out the rough edges of his game.

His performances attracted attention from Marseille and Monaco, with both clubs making offers for his services. “It’s like a child who is in the family house,” recalls Desailly. “He wants to move, he needs to move, no matter what the parents are going to give him. Nantes became too small for me. I wanted Marseille but all the family were saying go to Monaco because you are guaranteed a huge salary, but I said no, I am ambitious it’s not just about the money.

“I said the ambition that Marseille have will give me other opportunities. In football you have to be lucky. I’m a lucky man. I have not been a skilful, talented player. I’ve been a serious player all my life in my diet, sleeping, everything, but the luck of coming to clubs that win is also important.”

At Marseille he had to work his way into the first team through persistent endeavour and studying of the senior pros. He eventually became a regular choice in the backline, playing alongside the legendary Basile Boli. His robust performances won him a call-up to the France team during the qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup in the US. France failed to qualify in the last minute of their last match against Bulgaria when David Ginola lost possession and his error allowed Emil Kostadinov to score. The Eastern Europeans went to the finals and Desailly would have to wait another four years for his first World Cup.

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Marseille reached the European Cup final in 1993 and were pitted against the mighty Milan, the dominant team in European football. Having lost the 1991 final to a Red Star Belgrade team whose dogged approach took a sterile match to a penalty shootout, which they won 5-3, Marseille were determined to lift the trophy. A single headed goal from Boli was enough to beat Milan.

Marseille were subsequently stripped of their Division 1 title for paying Valenciennes to ease off in a league match so they could focus on their European Cup final. The club’s flamboyant millionaire chairman, Bernard Tapie, spent time behind bars for his role in the fiasco. Months later Desailly was on his way out, leaving Marseille to join the Milan team he had played a role in defeating.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Marcel Desailly celebrates after scoring for Milan in their 4-0 win over Barcelona in the European Cup final. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

The move came out of the blue, says Desailly: “I still continue to say that my move to AC Milan was not for me. Ariedo Braida, who was the sports director of AC Milan, came to watch Alen Boksic because he wanted to buy Boksic, not me. Luckily, that day I had an amazing game. I played libero and central defence, and I played my best game for Marseille that season. He put a cross against my name in his notebook to follow up later. When Marseille put me up for sale, Zvonimir Boban in AC Milan got injured, that’s why Milan came and grabbed me to replace Boban, to play as a midfielder. It’s all about luck sometimes.”

Desailly became a household name while at Milan as he seamlessly made the transition from the French league to the summit of European football in Serie A, the richest and most competitive league in the world at that time. Desailly found himself teleported into an entirely different world. “Out of 100, Marseille was 40 and Milan was 100,” he says. “It’s that simple. Organisation, the stadium, 82,000 people in the San Siro for every match, Milanello, the training camp, the food, the dress, Milan is the fashion city of the world, the international exposure that I experienced; it’s a different world. The money – my salary went up by four times what I was earning in Marseille.”

The competition for first team places was stiff, with only three foreign players allowed to play in any one match and eight players vying for those positions, among them Marco van Basten, Michael Laudrup, Jean-Pierre Papin, Giovane Élber and Dejan Savicevic.

Desailly took it all in his stride and adapted. “I love pressure. There are some talented players, suddenly they get into a big stadium – an important game – and they can’t deliver. The pressure shakes them and blocks them. In my first training session everything came naturally: shooting, pressing, tackling, understanding the tactics. A few years later, Fabio Capello told me: ‘When you came I didn’t really know who you were but the first week of training that you played with us, I had no choice but to put you in the first team.’ I enjoyed it. It’s like in the jungle, it is only the one who is fit that survives.”

At Milan, Desailly won the Champions League and two Scudetti. The arrival of George Weah, Roberto Baggio and Patrick Kluivert strengthened the Milan team on paper but they went into decline when club owner Silvio Berlusconi tightened the purse strings. In 1997 Milan had their worst season in a decade and, just before the 1998 World Cup, Desailly was approached by Chelsea’s director of football, Colin Hutchinson, about a possible move to London. The encounter caught him by surprise: “Chelsea? Which club? What are you saying? I’ve never heard about Chelsea,” said a bewildered Desailly.

He turned down an approach from Liverpool because he wanted a French school for his children. Not even the ludicrous offer of a helicopter to fly him from London to Liverpool every day for training could dissuade him. Desailly opted for Chelsea for this reason, saying to Hutchinson: “OK, let’s go have a look at your club.”

He arrived in England with a wealth of experience, a big reputation and no shortage of self-belief but he found that playing in the Premier league was a whole different ball game: “I suffered. My ego got smashed. I really suffered, honestly. Playing against Dion Dublin, Duncan Ferguson – big guys. The flick, the fighting spirit. Playing against Coventry, Sunderland – the long ball. I was unable to intimidate them. In France and Italy I was a strong guy – I would look the strikers in the eye and show ‘there is nothing for you today’ – and the player would look down and accept that I had won. But in England, no. The guy is ready for a fight. The striker will tackle you! I was depressed for four months.”

Over time Desailly adjusted to the differences in approach between England and continental Europe. He took to studying the English game on video, accepting that it was not possible to win every aerial challenge, and instead anticipated where the ball would land when it was flicked on, rather than always engaging in direct combat. He also began to release the ball earlier, knowing that strikers in England were quite happy to tackle defenders, something he had never seen in France or Italy.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Marcel Desailly uses the Charity Shield to protect himself from the rain after Chelsea’s win over Manchester United in 2000. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Besides the changes on the field, he also experienced a huge drop in the quality of the club facilities compared to what he had become accustomed to in Italy. “The camp we were training in was awful. The stadium only held 32,000 at the time, before it was later increased to 42,000. This was balanced by the fact that it was a new challenge for me. I was 30 years old, most of career was behind me, but the sense of a new adventure gave me a new lease of life.”

Desailly’s international career also prospered. After the failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, the casualties of that failure were the elder statesmen, among them Eric Cantona and David Ginola. A new generation of players, including Desailly, Zinedine Zidane, Youri Djorkaeff, Emmanuel Petit and Didier Deschamps, took up the mantle. French reached the semi-final of Euro 1996, losing to the Czech Republic on penalties, but it was now apparent that this was a team on the rise.

In 1998 France hosted the World Cup and their team, having now spent a few years together, was almost the finished article. Carried forward by a tide of intricate passing and the incandescent skills of Zinedine Zidane, they swept aside everyone until only the mighty Brazil stood in their way.

From the start of the tournament, Desailly had been the rock at the heart of the defence, complementing his elegant defensive partner Laurent Blanc. The backline had been virtually watertight throughout the tournament, but with Blanc suspended for the final, Desailly would need to be extra-vigilant alongside the more vulnerable Frank Leboeuf, playing his first match of the tournament.

France were outstanding from the start and two headed goals by Zidane effectively ripped the stuffing out of a bewildered Brazil team. In the second half, with 22 minutes left on the clock, Desailly received a second yellow card after a clumsy tackle on Brazil captain Cafu and was sent off. He spent the last part of the second half in the dressing room dreading a Brazilian comeback but Emmanuel Petit secured an historic victory with a third goal.

This was the start of the most successful period for French football and Desailly was a vital cog in the wheel during this period. He remembers the glory days with relish: “From 1998 to 2001 we were the best team in the world, like Spain later. There was nothing for any other team. We won Euro 2000 beating Spain, Italy, Czech Republic and Portugal. It was an amazing experience.”

After six successful years playing for Chelsea, Desailly moved to Qatar in 2004 to wind down his career. He won two league titles with Al-Gharafa and Sports Club Qatar in successive seasons. At 36, however, it was becoming harder to keep pushing himself and to maintain the high standards he demanded of himself.

The decision to retire was on his mind for several months before he finally made the hardest choice of his extraordinary career: “One morning, I was injured, I was alone in my room, and five o’clock in the morning the sun was already shining hard. I put my two feet on the floor and winced. The family were not with me because I didn’t want them to move to Qatar and I said to myself, ‘It’s time for you to stop’. The two elements were there: physical and psychological. I was not ready to come back after my small injury. That day I went to the club and told them I wanted to withdraw and end my career. After 20 years of professional commitment, I was tired. I had given my best.”

Having made the decision to walk away from football, Desailly was finally free and he now had to make a decision about his next step. “I don’t miss the game,” he says. “Sometimes the 90 minutes, but I don’t miss it. I’m free, I’m completely at ease because it was extremely hard. Some people say it’s easy being a football player. Let them come and put on their shorts. Every morning your toes are cold, the travelling, the pressure, the responsibility. You have to be a role model, you are involved in so many things. Now I am free. I am committed in different things. The charity work, the TV work, my own business. I’m busy but I manage to get time for the family. I don’t want to look back because also I can never get the same level of feeling and emotion as when I played; it was on the higher side.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Marcel Desailly and Arsène Wenger working together as pundits during Euro 2016. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

Two decades of playing at the highest level was rewarding but Desailly had to make some adjustments when he left the game: “I’m a lucky guy because I was not as talented as some offensive players but I gave it my best. We all need money though. I dropped from the 100% I spoke about earlier that I was earning as a football player to zero. How can you get back to a certain level of earning? Your capital is what it is, but you can never match what you were earning as a player. There is a drop no matter what you want or say, and then you have to be careful because now you are a normal person.

“People still recognise us because we are still doing TV work, but it is nice to be able to do what you want, go where you want and not get into a place and suddenly everyone comes to your table and asks you questions while you are with your wife and your kids trying to relax and have a good time. Freedom: that word, that aspect, means a lot to me. I’ve been involved in the game, available for everyone. Now I want to be myself and travel around the world, meet people, and do my charity work.”

After he decided to call it a day, Desailly started to spend more time in Ghana and, in time, made a conscious decision to make it his home. The lure of the African continent proved irresistible, though he still travels to Europe regularly. “I’m a citizen of the world. I’m French-Ghanaian. What I’ve done is invest in Ghana, created a project called Lizzy Sports Complex with a bit of estate and sports facility, to contribute at a private level to help by building a sports facility.

“I believe it is useful to the community and this is my commitment to Ghana. We’ve created 100 jobs and probably around 300 jobs indirectly, and I’m happy about that. I’ve brought my kids to Ghana to understand the African way of life and also for them to understand where their father is coming from. Not thinking that their father is just French. No, their father is African too.”

• This article is from These Football Times

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