In his autobiography “The snake of French football”, World and Europe champion Youri Djorkaeff tells about the meeting with legendary singer Charles Aznavour.

In this edition of In One Shot, we go back to the start of France vs. Armenia game in 1999. Djorkaeff tells about that day and his admiration for Aznavour.

“The national football teams of France and Armenia were drawn to the same group in the qualifying stage of Euro 2000.

Charles Aznavour brought the ball into play at Stade de France. He was a god for me. His contribution to musical art is invaluable. My favorite song of his is “Two Guitars”.

Aznavour was also involved in the Armenian National Committee of Armenia, where his presence was key as well: he provided huge relief to Armenia after the terrible earthquake took over 30,000 lives on December 7, 2008.

Aznavour mobilized everyone and sent many trucks packed with clothes to the survivors of the earthquake.

I had the privilege of talking with his loyal impresario Levon Sayan and congratulating Aznavour himself in his dressing room after the concern in Lyon. We had dinner together after the concert.

The first ever France vs. Armenia game ended with our, the French team’s victory. Armenia’s goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky had an excellent game, but another Armenian player on the French team Alain Boghossian was the hero of the day. He scored one and we created the second goal together.”