French Don Cherry dies, real football fans rejoice

[Duque de Bragança]

De mortuis nihil nisi bene et cetera but still he traumatised many a football fan, namely those of the non-jingoist/chauvinist, non-ignorant, French and foreign language lover as well as insightful commentary variety.

Thierry Roland had an incredible career with perhaps no equal in the history of sports journalism. He was for 59 years the one and only voice of soccer in France.

He started at 16 as a radio journalist for the ORTF and became a TV commentator at 20. Since then, he had commented on 13 World Cups and 9 European Championships. Almost 10.

Suffering would never seem to end for francophones but it's over now.

Even Sepp Blatter wrote on Twitter about it: "Deeply touched by the loss of a friend, french commentator Thierry Roland, who has contributed to the promotion of Football. Sincere thoughts to his loved ones."

The greedy gnome of Zürich damning with faint praise

http://article.wn.com/view/2012/06/17/Tribute_Thierry_Roland_the_Legendary_Voice_of_Soccer_in_Fran/

Some examples of his "colourful" commentary:

The first such instance came in 1976 in a match between France and Bulgaria in which he lost his sang froid with the Scottish referee over his awarding a penalty to the Bulgarians.

"Mr Foote, you are a bastard!" he cried on live television.

His employer at the time state TV channel Antenne 2 wanted to punish him but backed down after hundreds of viewers wrote in supporting him.

On other occasions too he had to apologise publicly to the Tunisian people and in particular referee Ali Bennaceur, of whom he had made what were termed 'racist' comments on live TV after Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal against England in the 1986 quarter-final.

"Honestly, Jean-Michel, don't you think that there could have been a better choice to referee such a big match as this than a Tunisian?" he said.

However, on a brighter note he will also be remembered for his commentary on the final whistle of France's 1998 World Cup victory over Brazil.

"I believe that after witnessing that, one can die happily!"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/french-tv-commentator-thierry-roland-dies/story-fn3dxity-1226397542632

[Tamas]

 

[Barrister]

I didn't think Don Cherry had so much international awwareness that you'd make such a comparison.

[Duque de Bragança]

I didn't think Don Cherry had so much international awwareness that you'd make such a comparison.

He's infamous all over the world among hockey fans. I couldn't help but think of Thierry Roland when I discovered Don Cherry's commenting style.