Ten Years Together: Margotton and Lizarazu Celebrate Their Anniversary Live from Nantes

Grégoire Margotton and Bixente Lizarazu celebrated Wednesday evening their ten years as a commentary duo, on the sidelines of the friendly match France-Côte d’Ivoire played at the Beaujoire in Nantes — the very stadium where their collaboration had begun. The Blues lost 1-2 to the Ivorians, but it was the anniversary of the pair that captured attention at the end of the evening.

On May 30, 2016, Margotton — fresh from Canal+ — and Lizarazu commented together for the first time on a France national team match, a friendly preparation for Euro 2016 against Cameroon. The Blues won 3-2 thanks to goals from Blaise Matuidi, Olivier Giroud and Dimitri Payet, under the orders of Didier Deschamps already established on the French bench. Ten years and 105 matches later, the two men found themselves in the same venue.

Just after the final whistle, striker Rayan Cherki sent them a message live on air: “Happy anniversary. Hoping you have another ten years of longevity ahead of you.” Margotton replied with a quip — “No, no, it’s not a pleasure at all… Of course it’s a pleasure” — before wondering aloud: “Ten years went by fast, didn’t it Bixente? Another ten?”

The former French international, 1998 World Cup champion and 2000 European champion, praised the quality of their partnership. “It’s a very beautiful story. A lot of complicity and pleasure,” he said. Margotton concluded by leaving the decision to viewers: “If TF1 viewers are willing, we’d be happy for it to continue another ten years.”