50 years of MHSC: Younès Belhanda, playmaker and genius of the “galactic” generation

Belhanda, une technique hors du commun. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

The Avignon player, trained at the club with the 1990 generation, gifted and promising, will have established himself, during the 2012 title, as the leader of the Montpellier machine and one of the main relays of René Girard on the field.

Our 84-page special issue

Condensing half a century of history into 84 pages. This is the challenge taken up by the sports editorial staff of Midi Libre in this special issue on the 50 years of the MHSC. Available in newsstands for only 5 euros, this glossy magazine will make you relive the great moments in the history of the Montpellier club through our “50” who made the MHSC.

Players, coaches and builders, starting with this “Nicollin Saga”, told by Laurent and Colette, the wife of the late Loulou. A special edition packed with anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.

Belhanda, an extraordinary technique. Midi Libre

Would Montpellier have been the 2012 French champion without Younès Belhanda ? No need to be a great specialist to convince yourself that no… Placed at the heart of the game by René Girard that year, the Franco-Moroccan weighed much more than his 12 goals and 4 assists. An ideal complement to the goalscorer Olivier Giroud, he instilled in the veins of the team his powerful competitive fuel, rewarded at the end of the season by the UNFP trophy for best Ligue 1 hopeful and that of the best goal of the season. This acrobatic “scissors” at the Vélodrome that has carved out an eternal place in the collective memory.

Saint-Étienne had forgotten to have him sign his contract!

And yet, what determines the destiny of a player or a team ? Fascinated by Zidane, the Avignon native, who grew up in the northern districts of the city in a family of six children, almost wore the colors of Saint-Étienne.

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Belhanda, an extraordinary technique. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

“We had been spotting him for a long time and had been making eyes at him,” says Serge Delmas, director of the training center in the early 2000s.His parents agreed, wanted him to stay in the South but he absolutely wanted to go to Saint-Étienne. The father had respected this wish and then during my holidays in Corsica, I received a call saying that Younès did not want to stay in Saint-Étienne. Thank God, they had forgotten to make him sign his contract! I took the first plane to go to his place. I can still see him waiting for me on his moped to take me to his house…”

Also read: 50 years of the MHSC: he unearthed Laurent Blanc and Younès Belhanda… Serge Delmas, the eternal seeker of nuggets

Winners of the Gambardella 2009

This is how Belhanda joined, at the age of 13, the Montpellier nursery, pillar of this 90s generation, that of Cabella, Stambouli, Martin, who would win the Gambardella in 2009 to justify his nickname “Galacticos”.

Belhanda, an extraordinary technique. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

“We came out as pros, but not only, remembers Younès. When things were tough for some, we were there for them. It was a real family. We were all brothers. Someone would cheer you up if you were feeling down.”

Stormy expulsion against Evian-Thonon

“He was a player with character, full of desire and who had to be channeled,” says Delmas. The year of the title, three days before the end, nature returns at a gallop when Younès is sent off at La Mosson against Evian-Thonon for a stupid altercation. Three matches of suspension and in addition unfortunate words against Giroud who refused that evening to take a penalty. Belhanda will watch, helpless, from the bench the happy ending of the championship.

“When I feel blue, I watch the video of 2012”

“I thought I had ruined the title, he admits. I had the worst night of my life after that match. ” But collective talent repairs many things. “It was probably the most exceptional generation we have ever known,” dares Serge Delmas, who had predicted a golden future for it.

Also read: 50 years of MHSC: “Things you have inside you forever”… René Girard’s starry memories

“He told us several years before that our generation was going to play in the Champions League. “I thought “let’s hope he’s right”, remembers the playmaker who dared a “panenka” from a penalty during his first match in this big league against Arsenal (2-1 defeat) in September 2012. A few months before going into exile in kyiv in a choice that was a bit of a counter-attack.

“When I’m feeling down, I watch videos of 2012. I show them to my children”, says Belhanda, now exiled in Qatar. But who “pursues the dream” of returning to the club one day.

Read also: 50 years of MHSC: “There are so few clubs like that in football”… Vito Hilton's look in the rearview mirror

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