Jacques Zimako

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Jacques Zimako , actually Jacques Atre (born December 28, 1951 in Drueulu on Lifou / New Caledonia ), is a former French football player .

Club career

The left winger came to the French professional game in 1972 when he was signed by the Corsican first division club SEC Bastia . There Jacques Zimako played 138 point games in the following five years; with a total of 42 league goals, he contributed significantly to the fact that Bastia only 1973/74 did not end the season in a single-digit table position. A third place (1976/77) was the best placement. In the 1974/75 and 1976/77 seasons, he was one of the most successful goalscorers in Division 1 with 15 goals each . In 1974/75 Zimako also reached the cup with the SEC , in the years before and after the quarter-finals.

His playful qualities included, in addition to his scoring danger, his speed and wealth of tricks. In addition, there was the ability to convert corner kicks directly, which he even succeeded in a European Cup game at the end of 1979 (3: 3 against Aris Saloniki ).
In 1977 he moved to AS Saint-Étienne , the then "flagship" of French club football. In the following four years he played under coach Robert Herbin at the side of greats like Michel Platini , Gérard Janvion , Johnny Rep , Christian Lopez , Jacques Santini , Dominique Rocheteau , Bernard Lacombe and Patrick Battiston . With the Verts - "the Greens" is the most common name of AS Saint-Étienne in France - Zimako became a national player, and after two third places in the top French league, he also won his first and only championship title there in 1981, also the 10th. and to date (2008) last for the club. He was also in the cup final in the same year; However, the ASSE lost that with 1: 2 against Zimako's former club from Bastia, for whom a certain Roger Milla scored the decisive goal.

1979/80 Zimako made it again among the top 15 league shooters. He was also involved in two “great moments” of the Verts at European level: the 6-0 home win over PSV Eindhoven in the 1979/80 UEFA Cup and the 5-0 win against Hamburger SV in the same competition a year later ; In the Volksparkstadion he scored the fourth goal of his team.

In 1981, he reoriented himself and signed a contract with FC Sochaux , where he met Patrick Revelli on a former teammate from Saint-Étienne. In his first season at Sochaux, Zimako took it again to a third league place. In 1983 he returned to SEC Bastia, which however no longer had the skill level of the previous years. In 1985 the striker ended his playing career.

Stations

  • A total of 388 games and 91 hits in the D1:
    • Sporting Étoile Club Bastia (1972–1977): 138 games / 42 goals
    • Association Sportive Saint-Étienne (1977–1981): 120/30
    • Football Club Sochaux (1981-1983): 62/8
    • Sporting Étoile Club Bastia (1983–1985): 68/11

The national player

Between June 1977 and November 1981 Jacques Zimako was used a total of 13 times in the French national team ; He also got two hits in this circle. He was the first Kanakian footballer ever to be appointed to the Equipe Tricolore . However, he often had to make do with the role of substitute, and he usually found his way around the grass quickly. In order to become a regular player on a permanent basis, the “Joker de luxe” lacked consistency. He also contributed to the successful qualification for the 1982 World Cup , but was not called up by coach Michel Hidalgo for the finals in Spain .

Life after time as a player

In the mid-1980s Jacques Zimako returned to New Caledonia , where he volunteered to help develop local football and the national team . In his opinion, the potential there has not been used enough so far. At the beginning of the 21st century he came back to Corsica, where he coordinates the youth work of the local football club in Muriani on the Costa Verde .

Palmarès

  • French champion : 1981
  • French cup winner : Nothing but a 1981 finalist
  • 13 international caps (11 of them during his time with Saint-Étienne and 2 with Sochaux), 2 goals for France
  • 14 European games, 3 goals (for Saint-Étienne)

literature

  • Christophe Barge / Laurent Tranier: Vert passion. Les plus belles histoires de l'AS Saint-Étienne. Timée, Boulogne 2004 ISBN 2-915586-04-7
  • Denis Chaumier: Les Bleus. Tous les joueurs de l'équipe de France de 1904 à nos jours. Larousse, o. O. 2004 ISBN 2-03-505420-6
  • Frédéric Parmentier: AS Saint-Étienne, histoire d'une légende. Cahiers intempestifs, Saint-Étienne 2004 ISBN 2-911698-31-2

Remarks

  1. ↑ Barge / Tranier, pp. 123-125.
  2. ↑ L'Équipe / Gérard Ejnès: 50 ans de Coupes d'Europe. L'Équipe, Issy-les-Moulineaux 2005 ISBN 2-951-96059-X , p. 320
  3. ↑ Numbers from Stéphane Boisson / Raoul Vian: Il était une fois le Championnat de France de Football. Tous les joueurs de la première division de 1948/49 à 2003/04. Neofoot, Saint-Thibault o. J.
  4. ↑ Chaumier, p. 321
  5. ↑ Chaumier, p. 321

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Zimako, Jacques
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Atre, Jacques
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Caledonian-French soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH December 28, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Drueulu on Lifou , New Caledonia