“I thought it was bullshit”: Mikel Guerendia(i)n or the improbable story of this Basque who became an Armenian international
A Basque from Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle, second row at Nafarroa, Mikel Guerendiain has no connection with Armenia. In 2006, this cousin of Maxime Lucu found himself selected for the small Caucasian country. The reason? A typo in his name and officials looking for players. A story that involves genocide, hidden guns, and Swedish nightclubs.
A typo can be very embarrassing. I still remember this email, addressed to a correspondent at "Sud Ouest," telling her not to forget to include my colleague in her posts: "Don't forget to put us both in your mouth." [Long silence] Years later, shame still runs down my spine. It should obviously have read "loop."
Some typos can change a destiny. Mikel Guerendiain can attest to that. If it weren't for a press correspondent's mistake, this 43-year-old pure-blooded Basque wouldn't have five caps for Armenia, a country with which he has no ties of origin. Now president of the club in his village of Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle in Regional 1 , this hard-working former second-row player played for Nafarroa in 2006.
Nafarroa's numerous match sheets, always with a spelling mistake in the surname Guerendiain. 
Nafarroa's numerous match sheets, always with a spelling mistake in the surname Guerendiain. 
Nafarroa's numerous match sheets, always with a spelling mistake in the surname Guerendiain. 
Nafarroa's numerous match sheets, always with a spelling mistake in the surname Guerendiain. 
Nafarroa's numerous match sheets, always with a spelling mistake in the surname Guerendiain. 
Nafarroa's numerous match sheets, always with a spelling mistake in the surname Guerendiain. 
Nafarroa's numerous match sheets, always with a spelling mistake in the surname Guerendiain.
Jean-Léon Hirigaray was then following the tribulations of the Fédérale 1 club, born from the merger between US Garazi and US Baigorri, for "Midi Olympique." "Call me Lalou," says the 78-year-old retiree. "I don't really like Léon, it sounds like the king of idiots." Lalou goes for it. Almost every week, Guerendian is cited among the best. And not Guerendiain. Some dot the "i's," Lalou completely forgets them. "It's true that, spontaneously, I would have written it without the last "i,"" he admits, surprised by the reason for our call. The new Armenian consonance of the surname led to an equally improbable phone call, eighteen years earlier.
"Who is this guy?""I thought it was bullshit," smiles Mikel Guerendiain. Sitting on the terrace of Rocio in Anglet, coffee in hand, he picks up the phone. On the other end of the line is Marc Abanozian, Armenia's national coach. The small Caucasian country, a former Soviet republic, is building a rugby team for the European Nations Cup thanks to its diaspora in France and the support of Michel Tachdjian.
Photo Pablo Ordas
The goal? To participate in the 2007 World Cup in France. A French champion with Racing in 1990, the former French international (3 caps) activated his networks to find funding for his home country. Patrick Devedjian, former president of the Hauts-de-Seine General Council, was approached. Brother printers, a partner of Stade Français, were featured on the national jersey. The team was even given a training camp in Marcoussis.
"We didn't qualify, but we moved up from Division 3D to Division 3A," recalls Raffi Yeramian (65). Above that, there were only two levels: Division 1, which included Georgia, Romania, and Portugal, and then the Six Nations teams. To climb the ladder, the vice-president of the Armenian federation at the time needed players.
"I spent entire days, for at least three weeks, combing through the French federation's files looking for names ending in 'ian,'" says the man who had put his work aside to devote himself to this mission. "We highlighted every player possible," laughs Marc Abanozian, 60, who lives in Mandelieu (Alpes-Maritimes). "We had no choice, that was all we had."
"We didn't have him on the federation's roster." And for good reason, Mikel is as Armenian as Richie McCaw, who is officially out of the game.
Third-row Laurent Hairabetian (Bègles) and fly-half Frédéric Boyadjian (Grenoble) are part of the adventure. "We had guys from the Top 16 or Pro D2, but also from the first division," says the manager. "But I was in deep shit at the second-row position. I watched "Midol" every week to see if there were any guys available. Two or three times, Guerendian's name came up. Who is this guy? We didn't have him on the federation's roster."
Photo Pablo Ordas
And for good reason, Mikel is as Armenian as Richie McCaw, who was officially out of the game. "I still asked my father if we had any origins," smiles Guerendiain, 24 at the time of the incident. "None. I declined." Abanozian insists: "Don't worry, we'll swap two letters!" The story begins. The young salesman receives the full Serge Blanco kit: suit, tie, bag, and jerseys.
The best with wet finger"It doesn't surprise me that I'm the inspiration behind a player's international career," Lalou Hirigaray says mischievously. The work is actually more collective, according to the archives of "Midi Olympique." Guerendiain is written about in just about every way by freelancers, and rarely the right way. What is true is his regular place among "the best" of Nafarroa. "I don't know why, the old man who wrote the articles must have really liked me," marvels Senpertar, cousin of Maxime and Ximun Lucu. The reality is a little more prosaic.
"I'm not going to say he was an average player, that would be dishonorable," explains Lalou between two remarks on the ephemeris and the lack of diversity of pelota games in "Sud Ouest". "The second rows are a bit anonymous. I don't have any very strong memories of him. I knew he was there when I saw him arrive with his company car branded Delzongle (his former employer). As for the rest, the forwards were often the best at Baigorri. I shouldn't say it, but I didn't always put the same ones among the best so that everyone would be happy. There were eight of them, they all deserved it." And Guerendiain a little more, with his selection.
"Apart from wasting his time and taking away from his personal life, there was nothing to gain. He went for it 300%."
The responsibility isn't just journalistic. Yoan Anthian played an important role. A fly-half for Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the Fédérale 1, he knows Mikel from the rugby fields and village festivals. An Armenian international, he also whispers his name to Abanozian. "I also thought his name was Guerendian," says the man who has no more Armenian ancestry than his Basque friend. "It didn't hurt to try." The two get into it. Really. "We didn't know anyone, but we felt like it was family. And, with Mikel, we didn't come to bother each other. We were super enthusiastic. We wanted to lift up those who weren't at their best."
Abanozian confirms, with a typo in the first name this time. "Miguel [sic] was seduced by the human adventure. Apart from wasting his time and taking away from his personal life, there was nothing to gain. No match bonus. Only travel was covered. He threw himself into it 300%." "It's still nice to travel with a national team and go to Sweden!" adds Yeramian. He couldn't be more right.
Fright at OrlyGuerendia(i)na's first selection took place in Helsingborg. "I thought, 'What's happening to me? It's great, but I still went online to see where it was. I'm from Saint-Pée, it's not the middle of nowhere, but hey, I haven't traveled much.' Arriving at Orly, his two meters shrank. The federation had bought him the ticket in Guerendian's name. His passport was one letter longer. "It went through, but I wasn't feeling very good."
Photos MG /DR
He's barely more at ease when it comes to meeting his "compatriots." The first questions come thick and fast: "The genocide of 1915-1916, your grandparents, your history..." Guerendiain remains vague. "What's crazy is that there's a Basque song I love, "Baldorba" by Benito Lertxundi. One verse talks about the Armenian people. This song accompanied my father to his funeral a few months after my first selection." The man sees it as a sign.
Photo Pablo Ordas
Nicolas the Hare
First training session: the touchline commands are in Armenian. "Jek louch", "Jek melek"... The second crossbar passed by Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle , Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Anglet makes the eyes widen. A little more at the time of returning to the field. "They came out of the Armenian soil to pray. I was very respectful of all that, but a little embarrassed. I took the opportunity to make my straps." During the anthem, he doesn't sing, he stands straight as an "i". The one missing?
"They brought out Armenian soil to pray. I was a little embarrassed. I took the opportunity to get my straps done."
On the pitch, Sweden thrashed Armenia (24-0). They would accumulate three defeats (Sweden, Andorra, Denmark) for two victories (Sweden, Switzerland) in the space of three years. But the essential thing was elsewhere. The experience was more human than sporting. And a bit festive, too. "After the match, the staff had reserved a VIP area in one of the biggest clubs in Helsingborg. Like the big teams. And for the first time in my life, we felt that the women were interested, perhaps more in the suit and tie than in our rugby skills. Nothing happened, but I had the feeling of being more interesting than usual. Four days later, when I returned to the village in Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle, no one looked at me, no one stopped, no one observed me."
Mikel Guerendiain tackles during a match with Armenia against Sweden, in Bourgoin-Jallieu. 
Mikel Guerendiain (2nd from left) with Armenia during a match against Sweden, in Bourgoin-Jallieu. 
Mikel Guerendiain during a match with Armenia against Sweden, in Bourgoin-Jallieu. 
Mikel Guerendiain (n°4) during a match with Armenia against Sweden, in Bourgoin-Jallieu.
He will be able to console himself in Abanozian's eyes: "Miguel [sic], I really appreciated the person and the player. He was very rugby-minded, very valuable to me, because some had three left hands. He was a good-looking guy, who wasn't afraid of anything, in short, a second row like we like them. He put his head on the field and he was respectful and full of humility off it." Yeramian agrees: "We were very happy to have him, because sometimes he even helped out as a number 8." It was against Denmark. "They tried me in the third row during my first year at Saint-Jean-de-Luz. A disaster."
Aznavour, pistol and Pierre CamouThe return match against Sweden took place in 2007 in Bourgoin-Jallieu. Pierre Martinet, an uncompromising caterer and president of the CSBJ, treated his guests to a feast. The Pierre-Rajon stadium was donated for the occasion. Armenia won (16-12). The evening ended in a Berjallie nightspot, among Milloud, Boyet, Frier, and Raschi, a Guerendiain lookalike according to his friends. "They really teased me." Almost as much as they were after Charles Aznavour's death in 2017: "Not too sad for Uncle?"
Today, the Armenian national team no longer exists. Guerendiain earned his last cap in 2009. "You felt it was unstable, not very clear. There was a big man, Yuri Beglaryan, always at the back of the bus, a pistol in his jacket." The brother of the country's former transport minister, the man ended up being wanted by the police. "We understood that he was the one who was lining up, but we didn't really know what he was doing, just that he was scary."
"There was a big man, Yuri Beglaryan, always at the back of the bus, with a pistol in his jacket. We didn't really know what he was doing. He was just scary."
Much more than Pierre Camou, who had nonetheless sanctioned him. After a barrage of injuries in the second row, Guerendiain's name came up to play in the committee final with Côte Basque in 2010, as a curtain-raiser to the Top 14 final at the Stade de France. Glass of whisky in hand, the late president of the federation, originally from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, vetoed it: "We won't take Guerendiain, he prefers to play matches with lamb and beans." Or the story of a Basque who couldn't be an international in his country.
Photo Pablo Ordas
The forty-year-old has no regrets. He's just biting his fingers for missing the match in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. "The players would always go to these symbolic sites of the genocide." A story that's now part of his life. "I don't really know how to say it, but I feel Armenian. I'm Basque, obviously. But, during these three years of my life, I didn't pretend. At the end of the day, am I not Armenian? I really believe it."
He's not the only one. The other morning, while going for a long morning run in preparation for the Berlin marathon, a car drove up alongside him. The window rolled down. It was a friend from the Basque Country: "How are you, Aznavourian?"
This article was originally published in November 2024 in “Raffut” No. 10, available at newsstands, by subscription or in the “Sud Ouest” online store .
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