But what did the lunar discourse of Cantona mean?

To the excitement of the next draw of the group stage of the Champions League, the room of the Forum Grimaldi of Monaco suddenly gave way to a long silence on Thursday. Eric Cantona had just received the award from UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, "not only for his career as a player of the highest caliber, but also for his personality, he who refused the compromises and defended his values" explained the latter. The former star of Manchester United did not disappoint.

"Science will soon make us eternal"

"The King" embarked on a philosophical tirade in English that left everyone speechless. "What flies are for mischievous children, we are for the gods: they kill us for their pleasure," he said in introduction, "Soon science will not only be able to slow cell aging, it will also repair them and thus make us eternal.Only accidents, crimes, wars will kill us, but unfortunately, crimes and wars will multiply.I like football.

Ronaldo and Messi remained impassive

The whole with a "thank you" to indicate to the room, incredulous, the end of his speech. The audience then applauded after a long moment of embarrassment. Filmed in close-up, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have apparently tried to remain impassive to hide their sense of incomprehension, visibly shared by their many neighbors.

The beginning of his tirade from a Shakespeare play

Reconverted actor and engaged in social struggles at the end of his career, Eric Cantona has never hidden his taste for theater. The beginning of his quote is also directly drawn. His sentence "What flies are for mischievous children, we are for the gods: they kill us for their pleasure" is taken from scene 1 of Act 4 of the tragedy written by William Shakspeare, King Lear. The rest was a philosophical thought on the excesses of the world with a parallel visibly drawn between the Gods and the powerful of this world.

In 1995, after winning his appeal against a two-week jail sentence after being kicked to a supporter of Crystal Palace, Cantona had already taken the media by surprise. "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea," he had let go before leaving the newsroom. This is also what built his legend with Manchester United.