“The trip to Dortmund, a memorable memory”
To celebrate the systematic presence of many Monegasque supporters in outdoor parks, asmonaco.com is continuing its series dedicated to supporters of the Red and Whites. For this fifteenth episode of the season, discover Stéphanie in Alsace.
She is an irreducible red and white! A nurse by profession for 12 years now, Stéphanie has always had her foot in the skin, and has been playing there since she was eight years old. Now 35, she has converted to coaching for the past three years, the fault of two major knee injuries, “the cruciate ligaments then the meniscus”.
Football and AS Monaco in the veins
Falling into it when there were only three girls playing in her region “on a sector of 50 teams”, she continued her passion at a time when women’s sections did not exist, and when Marinette Pichon launched her career. . Originally from Alsace, the one who lived in Nice after graduating, took the time to confide in her love for AS Monaco, before the crucial meeting in Strasbourg. Meet.
Hello Stephanie. First of all, how did this passion for AS Monaco come about?
I started football at the age of eight, and at the time I lived in a village of 350 inhabitants. That year, they created a youth section. Before that, I was playing in the schoolyard. And at that time, Racing often invited local amateur clubs to come and see matches played at the Meinau stadium. And the match that I was able to go and see with my father via the club was precisely against Monaco! That’s when I literally fell in love with Youri Djorkaeff. It also seems to me that this is the season when he finished top scorer in the French championship. I remember loving this red and white jersey with the Diagonale. We didn’t have Canal+ at the time to watch the matches, but Téléfoot on Sunday mornings was our mass with my father and my little brother.
⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ What Goal #14: 3⃣2⃣ minutes! It is the time taken by @youridjorkaeff to register this quadruple ⚡️ against Martigues 💪 (AS Monaco Vs Martigues – Season 93/94)! #STIR pic.twitter.com/O6StGiv5Ss
– AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) February 20, 2019
What had you more about the Snake?
I play as a striker, and even if I didn’t have such a fine technique (smile), I really liked and followed the player. His finesse, his efficiency, his technique, the fact that he plays simple… I immediately fell in love with him! He symbolized for me what AS Monaco represents, namely elegance, class, what a beautiful game! That’s what appeals to me the most.
In Strasbourg, the atmosphere is super good-natured, and I could go to the stands without any problem with my red and white jersey, I never had any thoughts. I was close to Stéphane Ruffier, and the people of Nice spent an entire half-time insulting his mother! It had shocked me a little, because I had really never seen that.
A complicated derby in the Nice kop
Did other players in this style impress you afterwards?
Inevitably I immediately think of Marcelo Gallardo, who was very similar in his game. After in 2004, in a different style, I liked the class of Fernando Morientes! In another register too, Ludovic Giuly, but more for what he gave off. Then over the last few years, Bernardo Silva clearly! A magnificent player.
Going back to your experiences at the stadium, what are your other memories?
The first that really marked me was in Nice at the Stade du Ray, the year I came to work there in a hospital. So it was a derby, and I think my colleagues got me a ticket. Except that I found myself in the Nice kop, so I dared not say that I was for AS Monaco obviously. I had never experienced that! In Strasbourg, the atmosphere is super good-natured, and I could go to the stands without any problem with my red and white jersey, I never had any thoughts. I was close to Stéphane Ruffier, and the people of Nice spent an entire half-time insulting his mother! It had shocked me a little, because I had really never seen that. Here the derbies against Metz are a bit heated, there are a few hotheads, but I had never been used to so many insults. Clearly when I went to the Ray, I didn’t put on a jersey and I didn’t say that I was for Monaco, because I wasn’t calm.
Others have been much nicer than I imagine…
I came back later for the Champions League round of 16 second leg against Arsenal in 2015! So even if we lost at the Stade Louis-II (2-0), we qualified thanks to the superb performance of the first leg at the Emirates (3-1). But necessarily the one that marked me the most was the trip to Dortmund in 2017! We went there with my brother and a friend, and we had planned to go back in the evening, since there is only 4h30 of road.
Did you stay put in the end, like many supporters?
Coincidentally, none of us three were working the next day, we had taken the day off. For a moment we still thought about going back and coming back the next day, because we couldn’t find a hotel. And then they launched the hashtag #bedforawayfans on the networks. So on a homestay. It’s a memorable memory! Football as I like it. You can love your club as much as you want, without hating your opponents. They love their club as much as we do, and it’s true that at that moment we said to ourselves: “It doesn’t matter who wins in the end, the main thing is that there are no serious consequences! “. Especially since it was my first trip to the parking lot with the Monegasque supporters, with the pre-match rally, the chants before entering the stadium and the whole ritual.
We were with a single man, subscriber to the Yellow Wall in Dortmund and who welcomed and restored us with great kindness. Luckily he had extra toothbrushes (smile)! And the next day, before going to see the match at 6:30 p.m., we went for a drink together.
On the night in Dortmund
How was the pre-match?
It was very well organized, we were escorted, and the Dortmund fans let us sing on the way without insulting us. There was already a lot of respect before the game. We understood when we saw that there was no warm-up, that something was not normal. We received messages from people who were in front of Canal+ and who gave us information that we did not have there. Despite everything, we did not feel any anxiety, since the security was reinforced. There was the disappointment of not seeing the match, but at the same time it was nice to stay there a little longer than expected. In the end, we could have slept in ten different places because people were so united. We always tell ourselves that we would have done the same thing, but in fact we don’t know.
We were with a single man, subscriber to the Yellow Wall in Dortmund and who welcomed and restored us with great kindness. Luckily he had extra toothbrushes (smile)! And the next day, before going to see the match at 6:30 p.m., we went for a drink together. Even today we still get news from time to time, when there are big matches. There is something special with Dortmund, which is a popular city. I’m not sure we would have had the same welcome in Munich.
In the past 25 years, what period has marked you the most?
I think the 2003-2004 season was really exceptional. Especially since we could watch the matches in the clear on television. I remember very well the famous 8-3 against La Coruña in particular. You had the impression that every time they shot on goal, they scored! It was the first time I had seen such a spectacular match. Jaroslav Plašil who scored in midfield, there was an outstanding achievement. This epic in the Champions League was incredible!
🗯️ “La Coruña this. La Coruña that.” 👀👉 ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
🎂 Happy birthday Dado Pršo! 🎂 pic.twitter.com/sLG36ZCZMl
– AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) November 5, 2019
And if you had removed a title rather than another?…
(Without hesitation) The last, the 8th! Maybe because it’s the newest. To be champion ahead of Paris Saint-Germain at the moment, I think it’s a great performance, and few have done it. And then in the game it was flamboyant! There were big performances with wide scores. Radamel Falcao, Kylian Mbappé, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho… the team was magnificent. I remember very little in detail about performances during the titles in 1997 and 2000. While I still have fresh memories of Falcao’s free kicks, performances against PSG.
Even if we do not have the capacity of PSG to win titles every year, I am just as happy to see Fabinho and Bernardo Silva explode in Liverpool or Manchester City. You tell yourself that AS Monaco counted in their career.
On the ability to launch champions
Have you collected any AS Monaco jerseys in all this time?
I have a friend who is also a Club fan, so I gave him my old shirts, because they were ten times too big (smile). It hurt my heart to leave them in my closet. In particular, I had a Shabani Nonda shirt, a player I really liked in the early 2000s. In 2004 I had a Lucas Bernardi flocked one, because I loved this player! And over the last ten years, I have at least one for each season.
Why is it a special club in your opinion?
I always found that there was a certain elegance in the game, even if there were more complicated periods. In this, I find that Monaco is different from other formations. There have always been players and coaches who wanted to play good football. And then even at the level of the club, at the level of communication, I find that there is a certain form of class.
And a tradition of throwing young…
It’s true that we mustn’t forget that it’s an institution that has always given young people a chance, with an efficient training centre. You always need experience on the side, but you can see that in France on exceptional players, and if you give them the time, they can make big careers. When you see the number of players that AS Monaco has launched at a very high level, it’s quite rare! And that’s something I appreciate. Because even if we do not have the capacity of PSG to win titles every year, I am just as happy to see Fabinho and Bernardo Silva explode in Liverpool or Manchester City. You tell yourself that AS Monaco counted in their career.