Desailly-Deschamps, the terrible drama

It’s a sad anniversary for FC Nantes. On November 18, 1984, a terrible road accident killed several young Canaries players. Seth Adonkor, great hope of French football, and expected at the time to join the Blues, died at the age of 23. Jean-Michel Labéjof, 18, also lost his life. Sidy Kaba, 17, survived but never really recovered from this accident. He died in 2021, after being homeless for a long time.

The best known of the three victims, Seth Adonkor, was the half-brother of Marcel Desailly. Asked by Ouest-France, which devoted a long article to this tragic event this Monday, the 1998 world champion did not wish to discuss the subject, so as not to “reopen an almost closed scar. »

When Deschamps learns of the tragedy at Desailly

This drama, from which he was able to draw strength for the rest of his career (“After that, I felt invested with a mission”he said), Marcel Desailly had mentioned him in his biography “Captain”, released in 2002. He particularly remembered how it was a certain Didier Deschamps who had found the courage to inform about this disaster.

“When the news broke, no one felt the courage to tell me, says Desailly. I don’t blame them: it takes a lot of strength, even for an adult, to do something like that. Didier did it. He told them: ‘It’s up to me to go see Marcel.’ Not once will we talk about this scene again. But his hand on my arm will remain for me a supreme proof of friendship. »

At the time, Desailly and Deschamps were residents of the FC Nantes training center. On the day of the tragedy, the two players, aged 16, were on training with the French cadet team in Monaco. In 2016, in Michel Denisot’s show, “Secret Conversation”, on Canal+, Deschamps explained why, as a friend and captain, he had taken his responsibilities at that moment. “Our coach (Henri Guérin) was having trouble. I didn’t see him feeling very comfortable so I told him: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll tell him.’ I was close to Marcel, we knew each other very well. I felt I could and should do it. »