August 1997 kicked off an exceptional year for French football and was the month I fell in love with French football, attending two quality matches and witnessing goals from the likes of Raï, Simone, Guivarc'h and Cascarino.
TROYES 4-2 NANCY Round 1 of Ligue 2, August 2 1997
The frein à main (handbrake) was most definitely off when relegated Nancy visited Stade de l'Aube for the opening game of the season. I was there with my family, in a crowd of more than 6,000, to witness a thriller. Troyes raced into a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes with playmaker Sladjan Djukic scoring and starring.
There was a holiday atmosphere in the ground and maybe that got to the Troyes players as a red card for David Boisseau helped Nancy back into the game. Tony Cascarino, Matthew Spiro's guest for an excellent Le Beau Jeu podcast interview this week, pulled one back, showing the scoring ability that saw him follow Michel Platini in earning the freedom of Nancy. Future Nancy boss Pablo Correa stepped off the bench to score a second and it was anybody's game until Mickaël Maurice sealed the points for Troyes in the 90th minute.
AUXERRE 2-3 PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN Round 2 of Ligue 1, August 7 1997
Troyes-Nancy ended up being the hors d'oeuvre to a remarkable match between Auxerre, double winners under Guy Roux in 1996, and star-studded Paris Saint-Germain. It seemed as though the entire population of Auxerre - and more - had crammed into Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps for a blockbuster Thursday evening fixture.
Auxerre forward Stéphane Guivarc'h would infamously end the season as a World Cup winner, despite not scoring in the finals on home soil. He was far more prolific at club level, having top scored in Ligue 1 on loan at Rennes the previous season, and backing that up by repeating the feat with Auxerre in 97-98, as well as being the leading scorer in both the Intertoto Cup and the UEFA Cup. Guivarc'h it was who opened the scoring against PSG, nodding in (29') after Steve Marlet had headed a free-kick his way.
Just before half-time Bernard Diomède, another member of the 1998 World Cup squad, broke clear down the left and scooped the ball to the far post. Marlet (43') caught it sweetly on the half-volley and fired into the roof of the net. PSG boss Ricardo brought on Paul Le Guen - a future OL and PSG coach - and an exquisite Le Guen through ball left Marco Simone with the sort of one-on-one chance that the Italian simply didn't miss (53').
PSG's prospects improved when Franck Rabarivony was sent off, his second yellow card collected for encroachment. The capital club levelled in style (74') when Florian Maurice flicked up a Jimmy Algérino low cross and volleyed the ball into the far corner for his second goal in as many games at the start of the season.
Such a thrilling, quality encounter deserved a dramatic denouement and that's exactly what it got. Two minutes from time (88') Le Guen's inswinging corner was headed in by Raï, still considered to be the most important Brazilian player in PSG's history. Paris Saint-Germain had completed a phenomenal comeback win and I was hooked on Ligue 1.
