Jean-Jacques Marcel

Jean-Jacques Marcel (born June 13, 1931 in Brignoles , Var department , † October 3, 2014 ) was a French football player .

The club career

The southern French player was signed by FC Sochaux in 1949 and quickly became a regular in their league team . Jean-Jacques Marcel was a physically strong right runner with qualities both defensive and forward, had a hard shot and a good header game - 76 goals in over 420 league games were unusual for a midfielder at that time. At the age of 21, he was appointed to the national team for the first time in 1953 due to his consistent performance .

In 1954 he moved to his home region at Olympique Marseille and stayed there for five years, in his first season at the side of 17 years older than Larbi Ben Barek . As OM 1959 as table 20. the Division 1 had to leave, he joined the SC Toulon , where he on his international colleague Maurice Lafont hit, and only a year later, after Toulon's descent, the RC Paris . When this too could no longer hold the highest class, Jean-Jacques Marcel ended his professional playing career in 1964.

Unlike in the national team (see below) , he had the bad luck in his clubs that they usually only played in the midfield of the league. So it was enough for him only to three runner-up championships (1952/53 with Sochaux, 1960/61 and 1961/62 with Paris), and Marcel's respective club even descended three times in Division 2 . He then looked for a new field of activity and, given his individual class, found it without any problems. In the Coupe de France , too , his palmarès is sparkling white: he was not a single time in a cup final.

Player stations

• until 1949: AS Brignoles (as a youth)
• 1949–1954: FC Sochaux
• 1954–1959: Olympique Marseille
• 1959/60: SC Toulon
• 1960–1964: Racing Club Paris

The national player

Between May 1953 and October 1961, Jean-Jacques Marcel played 44 international matches for the Équipe tricolore (10 during his time with Sochaux, 24 with Marseille, 3 with Toulon and 7 with Paris). He scored three goals and was also the team captain in four games. His place in the national team has been undisputed over the years; He was of course part of the French squad at the 1954 and 1958 World Cups and was absent from the eight final matches there in only one (1958 in the preliminary round against Yugoslavia ). Third place at the World Cup in Sweden was also the greatest success of his career. He also played both Bleus games at the first European Championship (1960 in France) . Until 1959 he and Armand Penverne formed a perfectly harmonious middle row in which Marcel - unlike in his clubs - mostly played on the left side.

Life after the active time

In 1964 Marcel returned to his hometown and played for a few years as an amateur at the club from which he emerged. Professionally, he initially supported his father, then mayor of Brignoles, in his wine trade; then he worked as a representative for the sporting goods manufacturer Le Coq Sportif . He lived later, albeit withdrawn, in the small town between Fréjus and Aix-en-Provence . Jean-Jacques Marcel died in 2014 at the age of 83 after a long illness.

Palmarès

• French champion : Nothing (but runner-up in 1953, 1961, 1962)
• French cup winner : Nothing
• Trade fair cup : 2 games in 1963/64
• 44 senior internationals, 3 goals; Third in the world championship in 1958
• 426 appearances and 76 goals in Division 1 , 116/11 for Sochaux, 158/23 for Marseille, 31/4 for Toulon, 121/38 for Paris

Individual evidence

1. ^ Thierry Agnello: Le grand Jean-Jacques Marcel n'est plus… message on the Olympique Marseille homepage of October 3, 2014 (French, accessed October 4, 2014).
2. ^ Obituary in France Football, October 7, 2014, p. 14