François Bracci, former international and third most capped player at OM, has died

The death of François Bracci, at the age of 72, is first and foremost that of a lover of OM, but a mad lover, and who would say, at a time when recognition had come: “I I only had one goal in life, one obsession: to wear the OM jersey. » He crossed Marseille on foot to go to training and matches, would remember ringing Jean-Pierre Dogliani several times to ask for an autograph, asking Célestin Oliver for his captain’s armband, and happiness ended up falling on this former cadet of Rouet, on December 18, 1971, a day that he had been imposed by his president Marcel Leclerc.

He absolutely wanted Lucien Leduc to play a young player, to the point of having demanded that Jean-Louis Hodoul, the usual holder, withdraw. But left-back François Bracci would have entered the career, in any case, with his tall height (1.85 m) and his offensive manners which led some observers to compare him to Giacinto Facchetti, the Italian, and “Tchoi », his Marseille nickname, had a remarkable professional career lasting sixteen years (1971-1987) and more than 550 matches which took him, after Marseille, to Strasbourg (1979-1980), to Bordeaux (1980-1983 ), before returning to OM (1983-1985) and finishing in Rouen (1985-1986), then in Béziers (1986-1987).

18 selections for the French team

Champion of France in 1972 and winner of two French Cups in 1972 and 1976, with OM, this son of a Corsican customs officer who emigrated to Alsace managed to bring OM back to D1, in 1984, with the Minots, of whom he was the captain, during his second stint. The third most capped player in the history of Olympique de Marseille (342 matches) behind Steve Mandanda (613) and Roger Scotti (452) will also have had 18 caps for the French team, from 1973 to 1982, and will have played the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

“Oh lonzo, I saw you play at the Vélodrome, I was a ball boy! Thanks to your centers, I made my land! »

Jean Tigana on François Bracci.

Bracci also had a long career as a coach, and he thus reunited with another Marseillais, Jean Tigana, by becoming his assistant at OL from 1993 to 1995. At the time of the coaches’ locker rooms constantly open to journalists, their daily and very Marseille sketches were a joy. Jean Tigana’s favorite was about the quality of Bracci’s crosses: “Oh lonzo, I saw you play at the Vélodrome, I was a ball boy! Thanks to your centers, I made my land! »

Number one coach, Bracci managed Toulon in D2 (1996-1997), but above all he completed, often with success, the Algerian and Moroccan Championship, notably becoming Algerian champion in 2010 at the head of Mouloudia. This man of football and passion passed away near Alès following a long illness. To his family and friends, L’Équipe presents its saddened condolences.