PortraitRecognized transfer specialist, this 35-year-old Spaniard now successfully leads Olympique de Marseille, which hosts Paris-Saint-Germain, Sunday, October 24, at the end of the 11th day of Ligue 1.
Pablo Longoria always warns his counterparts before taking a seat next to them. Despite his friendly conversation (in six languages, if necessary) and this remnant of a young man’s shyness, the president of Olympique de Marseille has Latin joy. This 35-year-old Spaniard sometimes forgets its decorum. Sunday 24 October, closing the 11e Ligue 1 day, the president of Paris-Saint-Germain, the very placid Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, can always expect to see his neighbor give him an involuntary shoulder if ever OM ends a decade without a victory at the Stade-Vélodrome in the clasico.
The images bear witness to this. Against Angers, on May 16, Longoria celebrates the goal of the Polish Arkadiusz Milik with his arms in the air and back in his seat, to welcome a qualification in the Europa League snatched at the last minute of the season (3-2). When the local fervor was able to frighten some of his predecessors, he sees it as a component of Marseille culture and places Marseille on a planisphere next to Buenos Aires, the promised land of those who conceive of a stadium as noisy, feverish and pyrotechnic. “Marseille is passion, and I am a passionate person, he confides to World in this presidential office that he has occupied since February 26. In Europe, it is rare to meet this type of passion, here we have a passion comparable to what we meet in Argentina. ”
No coincidence, therefore, that his first decision was to appoint the “Gaucho” Jorge Sampaoli. Tattooed and volcanic, the character would be able to clash with a corner post or slam the door without warning or saying goodbye. No matter. The young president takes the risk. With this former bank employee on the bench, the Vélodrome is bubbling again, with a 3e temporary place, an unbridled game, sometimes disjointed, but never cold, as required by the soul of a city that Longoria describes as “Chaotic, sincere and passionate”.
A “millennial” on the Canebière
The current president of OM was not born in the country of Maradona, but in Oviedo, Spain, on June 9, 1986, two months after the arrival of Bernard Tapie as OM buyer. The two men met once, last spring, at the Parisian home of Tapie. From this long discussion, the Asturian reveals his main question – “When OM won titles, in your time, what was the soul, what was the personality of the club? “ -, but not the response of the “Boss”, who died on October 3. “This is private”, Longoria dodges.
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