Roger Gaston Louis Marche (5 March 1924 – 1 November 1997) was a French footballer who played as a defender. He was part of the France national team during the 1954 and 1958 World Cup tournaments. He was nicknamed Le Sanglier des Ardennes ("the Boar of the Ardenne") for the region from which he came.

Roger Marche
Marche with France in 1949
Personal information
Full name Roger Gaston Louis Marche[1]
Date of birth (1924-03-05)5 March 1924[1]
Place of birth Villers-Semeuse,[1] France
Date of death 1 November 1997(1997-11-01) (aged 73)[1]
Place of death Charleville-Mézières,[1] France
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Left back
Youth career
ASC Mohon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1944–1954 Reims 300 (1)
1954–1962 RC Paris 242 (0)
Total 542 (1)
International career
1947–1959 France 63 (1)
Medal record
Representing  France
FIFA World Cup
Third place 1958
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

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Marche, born in Villers-Semeuse, Ardennes, is one of the players with the most appearances in the French top division, having played 542 matches for the clubs Stade Reims and RC Paris.[citation needed]

He was a member of the France national team from 1947 to 1959, and became the most-capped player ever for France with 63 international matches played, surpassing Étienne Mattler's previous record of 46 caps set in 1940. Marche held the record until 1983, when the also defender Marius Trésor established a new mark with his 64th cap. Several players since have surpassed that cap total.[citation needed] He was also the nation's oldest goalscorer at 35 years and 287 days, until Olivier Giroud surpassed his record on 22 September 2022.[2]

Marche died in 1997 in Charleville-Mézières.[citation needed]

Honours

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Reims

France

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Fichier des décès – années 1990 à 1999" [Death file – years 1990 to 1999] (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Giroud becomes France's oldest scorer in win" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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