On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of ASSE's victory against Hajduk Split (5-1), the Peuple-Vert site will tell you the story of the first “comeback” in the history of French football which launched the epic of the Greens in the 1970s. Enjoy this majuscule feat which is presented to you in two episodes, from the rout in Split to the extraordinary outcome in Geoffroy-Guichard.
And Geoffroy-Guichard became the Cauldron
It started at Geoffroy-Guichard on November 6, 1974 at 8:30 p.m. The pressure from Bereta's men was intense from the kick-off and disoriented the Yugoslavs who were not expecting such a start. For the moment, they have not given in despite dangerous attempts from Revelli, Piazza and Bereta, all aborted by Meskovic, the Split goalkeeper, in a state of grace.
For half an hour, Split multiplies the acts of anti-game by stubbornly refusing the fight, proof if any that they are completely overwhelmed. Surjak is watched like milk on fire by Janvion who has taken the full measure of his direct opponent. Herbin was right in starting him even though Alain Merchadier had been through hell in the first leg.
35th minute: A free kick, thirty-five meters from the opposing goal, taken from the left is extended by both the heads of Bereta and Hervé Revelli towards Larqué who executes a magnificent volley, finally deceiving the immense Yugoslav goalkeeper . The stadium literally exploded, drunk with happiness even if ultimately, only a small part of the delay was made up. The atmosphere inside the stands reached a level never seen before in France.
During half-time, the coach wonders if his players will be able to further raise the level of their game after the riot of energy during the first forty-five minutes, because he is aware that it would not be necessary. much more to bring down a team that seems to be in agony.
Split cooled Geoffroy-Guichard
However, in the 60th minute, it was Split who equalized thanks to Jovanovic who took a cross from the right in full swing that Piazza, hampered by his direct opponent, was unable to intercept. ASSE must therefore score three goals in half an hour to hope to win overtime.
Suffice it to say, mission impossible. Pierre Garonnaire, who was commenting on the match on the video recorder in the stands, threw his microphone in rage. By the time he returned to the sidelines to settle in with the technical staff, Bathenay headed a bell corner less than a minute after the equalizer. A tremendous clamor rose to greet this goal which gave a semblance of hope to an entire people and the pace of the match accelerated.
70th minute: Synaeghel receives a ball in the axis twenty-five meters away. He resolutely engages in the pincer movement. He has a reputation for collapsing at the slightest breath of wind, which is bound to happen when he is sandwiched on the edge of the penalty area.
Outside, inside? The doubt still persists today. In any case, the Scottish referee takes his responsibilities and whistles the penalty which Bereta transforms into force under the bar. 3-1, one more goal and the Greens will be entitled to overtime. There are nineteen minutes left to play to reach their end.
Several journalists later insisted that ASSE had been very lucky that evening by regaining the advantage immediately after the equalizer. Ditto by obtaining a disputed penalty, but the Stéphanois continued to provoke it throughout the match while the Yugoslavs systematically refused to play.
And Herbin got in tune with his team by bringing on Triantafilos, ten minutes from the end of regulation time, in place of the tired Repellini. He asked him to occupy the axis of the attack to take advantage of the gaps opened by Hervé Revelli which he himself could not exploit due to lack of strength. To compensate for the departure of their defender, the coach must however reorganize his defense and it is Bathenay who moves back a notch and finds himself at left back.
82nd minute: Split continues to break up the game. While he benefits from a free kick in his own thirty meters, the defender passes directly to his goalkeeper. The latter quickly clears a ball which barely crosses the halfway line. It is naturally recovered by the Stéphanois who move forward. After several relays, it lands at the feet of Hervé Revelli who pretends to take it back. The ball passes between his legs and his feint deceives the entire White rear guard except Triantafilos, unmarked, who takes the opportunity to sink full axis and deceive at point blank range, with a heavy strike, the unfortunate Meskovic.
All of Saint-Etienne must have heard the roar of pleasure that rose from the stands when Triantafilos scored this fourth goal, giving a perfect tie over the two matches.
Who could have believed it at the start of the match and even more so when Hajduk equalized?
Lopez believes that qualification is in his pocket and now he is the one who starts to gain time. Very quickly, however, Curkovic puts him back on the right path. We have to score this fifth goal.
Yves Triantafilos, the Hero
ASSE brilliantly obtained the right to play an extension which promises to be thrilling. Despite the fatigue and the cramps, the Stéphanois can no longer give up. Piazza is firmly convinced of this and he pushes his partners to move forward, he, who was still uncertain a few days ago.
This is not the opinion of Herbin who, on the contrary, asks them to be extremely vigilant. It would be stupid to concede a goal after all the efforts made to get there. There will certainly be opportunities to seize as long as you are patient, maybe a free kick, you never know. Moreover, in training, they worked on combinations with two or three players that they could take advantage of.
Janvion left at the start of extra time, paralyzed by cramps. He can't take it anymore, having fought a constant battle with his attacker who we haven't seen. That shows its performance. He is replaced by Jacques Santini.
104th minute: Goal kick for the Yugoslavs. The goalkeeper no longer has enough strength to pull them. So it’s a defender who sticks to it. His shot barely goes beyond the penalty area and it is taken by the elder Revelli who wasn't asking for that much. The attacker rushes towards the goal, but he is caught by an opponent who commits a deliberate foul to prevent him from hitting. Here's a well-placed free kick barely twenty-two meters from the cage.
In Saint-Etienne, three players can hit him: Larqué, Bereta, Triantafilos. Everyone, in turn, stands around the ball and appears to be a candidate. But the one we call “the Greek”, Triantafilos, has the advantage of being fresher than the others. He is the one who must be allowed to shoot because Larqué and Bereta, weakened by cramps, can't take it anymore. The Saint-Etienne captain understood this perfectly and intelligently shifted the ball to his right for Triantafilos. With a sharp strike, he pierces a wall positioned barely five meters away, and deceives Meskovic, helpless who has not made the slightest gesture.
At this point in the game, with this result (5-1), ASSE is qualified, but there are still sixteen long minutes to play. Endless. Everyone must dig deep within themselves to remain standing. Bereta, for example, can no longer put one foot in front of the other, so much so that he will end the match walking. Finally, at around 11 p.m., Mr. Patterson, the Scottish referee, sent everyone back to the locker room, thus sealing an extraordinary victory that would go down in the history of French football.
The unanimous witnesses to Geoffroy-Guichard
The journalist Edouard Seidler wrote on this occasion “ A French football team entered with a knife between its teeth, with the rage to win, with a feeling of revolt against itself and against bad luck. It won better than a match: a bet, the one undertaken by its leader Robert Herbin, relying on all the moral and technical structures of a real club. We can always remind the skeptics and all those who strive to make football an activity more intellectual than physical now of the date of November 6, 1974.”
Stefan Kovac, the French coach, declared that “ It’s the first time I’ve seen a French team play total football throughout an entire match… » And he knows what he's talking about, he who invented total football with Ajax Amsterdam.
At a press conference, Robert Herbin later insisted on the fact that “Through this victory and this qualification, Saint-Etienne must now have earned the respect of all of French football”. In any case, it proves that impossible is not Stéphanois.
Yugoslav journalists were impressed by the fury and fervor released by the 26,000 spectators who made noise as if there were 60,000. They then nicknamed the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, “the Cauldron”. Jean-Jacques Vierne, journalist from L'Equipe, who heard them, took up this nickname in the columns of the sports daily. The myth was born and the nickname remained for the greater glory of the most emblematic stadium in France.
The AS Saint-Etienne team against Split: Curkovic – Janvion after Santini (92ᵉ), Piazza, Lopez, Repellini after Triantafilos (80ᵉ) – Bathenay, Larqué, Synaeghel – P. Revelli, H. Revelli, Bereta
Coach: Robert Herbin
