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Marseille furthers rise from ashes Once-troubled club has come long way in past three years
Posted: Wednesday April 21, 1999 01:13 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- Olympique Marseille's rebirth from the ashes of the Tapie match-fixing scandal continues apace with its appearance in the UEFA Cup final against Parma next month. Marseille is back in a European final just six years after lifting the European Cup and only three since returning from the French second division where it had been consigned as punishment for match-fixing. Overjoyed fans in Marseille got carried away as they celebrated their team's achievement, nearly starting a riot in the old port district as police made several arrests. It is Marseille's third European final and its first in the UEFA Cup. It will be the 11th overall for French football and the seventh for the country in the 1990s. "We've been rebuilding for only two years. This is a remarkably quick return to the top," said captain Laurent Blanc, whose late penalty equaliser on Tuesday gave Marseille their semifinal win over Bologna on the away goals rule. Ironically, France had come within a whisker of failing to qualify any team for one of Europe's club finals in the first season after its momentous World Cup victory. The French sports daily L'Equipe said on Wednesday: "It was essential that the year after the great joy should not be that of the depression... "It's important that the continent should know that next season in the new Champions' League our teams will not simply take part." Marseille had to battle its way into the May 12 final in Moscow. It was 1-0 down in the 18th minute to a Bologna side playing at home after holding the French league leaders 0-0 in the away leg. But the French club's celebrations did not go down well with either the home team or their fans as they left the pitch and a pitch-side brawl ensued. Marseille coach Rolland Courbis's son Stephane, who was on the bench with the substitutes, was blamed by the Italians for starting the trouble. According to L'Equipe, he was later questioned by police. "I don't know exactly what happened and I don't want to systematically defend my players. But the logic seems simple to me: a player in a team that wins has no reason to get at his adversary like that," Rolland Courbis said. Courbis had predicted a 1-1 draw to take Marseille through to the final, but he did not envision waiting for his side's equalizer with less than five minutes remaining. "At halftime, I was in admiration of the Italian finishing and their ability to convert the only chance Bologna created," he said. "There was very little in it but this qualification reflects the difference between the two teams: the team that was a little bit better won through."
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