Michel Platini

Michel Platini
Michel Platini in 1997
Personal information
Full name	Michel François Platini
Date of birth	June 21, 1955 (1955-06-21) (age 54)
Place of birth	Jœuf, France
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder (retired)
Youth clubs
1966–1972	AS Joeuf
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1972–1979 1979–1982 1982–1987	AS Nancy Saint-Étienne Juventus Career	181 0(98) 104 0(58) 147 0(68) 432 (224)
National team
1976–1987	France	072 0(41)
Teams managed
1988–1992	France
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Michel François Platini (born June 21, 1955 in Jœuf, France) is a French former football player, manager and current president of the Union of European Football Associations.

Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was voted the best player and top goalscorer. He participated in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups, reaching the semi-finals in the latter two. Platini, Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana together made up the "carré magique" (French for "magic square"), the group of midfield players that formed the heart of the French national team throughout the 1980s. He is also widely regarded as one the best passers in football history as well as one of history's greatest free kick specialists and finishers. He holds the record for most goals (9) scored in European Championship final tournaments despite only appearing in one such tournament (1984).

Platini was named Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour on April 29, 1985 and became Officier (Officer) in 1988. He was the French national team coach for four years, and was the co-organizer of the 1998 World Cup in France. He has also been the chairman of the FIFA Technical and Development Committee, and vice-president of the French Football Federation.

The beginnings of Platini's football career

Michel is the son of Aldo Platini, a former professional football player and coach of Italian descent. Aldo Platini helped his son develop his skills. The young Platini honed his ability to dribble the ball in the streets. In this respect he was different to the players developing their skills in the training academies then emerging in France. He joined his local club AS Jœuf on September 10, 1966. From his father Platini learned early on the fundamental importance of anticipating play and knowing whom to pass to before receiving possession of the ball.

Platini performed poorly in the final of the 1969 young footballers' competition, but at 16 years of age he attracted attention in a Coupe Gambardella tournament match with an impressive display for Jœuf juniors against a Metz junior side. Platini was called up for a trial with Metz, but missed out on the opportunity due to injury, and was not immediately invited back after the Metz coach moved to another club. He returned to regional league football with Jœuf. Another trial at Metz went horribly wrong when a breathing test on a spirometer caused Platini to faint. The doctor's verdict on Platini's breathing difficulties and weak heart ended any hopes Platini had of playing for his boyhood favorites. He joined the Nancy reserve side in September 1972, and became friends with team goalkeeper Jean-Michel Moutier.

Platini's club career

Platini at Nancy (1972-1979)

Platini was quick to make a big impression at his new club, scoring a hat-trick in a reserve team match against Wittelsheim. Further outstanding displays put him in contention for a place in the Nancy first team. His introduction to the first-team squad was inauspicious. On the substitutes' bench for a match against Valenciennes, Platini was spat on and hit by various objects thrown from the crowd when a fight broke out in the stands. Playing for the reserves a few days later, a hefty challenge from an opponent left Platini with a bad ankle injury. His season would finish on a more positive note, and he would go on to make his league debut against Nîmes on May 3, 1973.

In March 1974, he suffered a setback when he sustained a double fracture of his left arm in a match at Nice. Platini missed the remainder of the season as a result, unable to assist Nancy in an unsuccessful bid to avoid relegation from Ligue 1. The following season saw Nancy win promotion back to the French first division with ease. Platini became the team's most important player, scoring 17 goals, a number of which were scored from free-kicks, as was becoming Platini's speciality. Saint-Étienne, the then reigning French league champions, were knocked out of the French Cup with two goals from Platini free-kicks. Platini practised his free-kicks with the help of his friend, goalkeeper Moutier, and using a row of dummies to form a defensive wall of sorts.

With Nancy back in Ligue 1, Platini's military service reduced his availability for matches, but he continued to make himself available to play when possible. In a match away to Laval, Platini, angered by the taunts of the home supporters, scored a hat-trick, but unluckily sustained another injury. Press reports claimed that Platini's season was over and that he would require a knee operation, but neither claim proved to be correct. Instead, Platini returned to first-team football two weeks later for Nancy's French Cup semi-final against Marseille at the Parc des Princes. Platini headed the only Nancy goal in their 4-1 loss and was forced to leave the field injured.

Following his participation in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Platini signed a two-year contract with Nancy, his first professional contract.

Before travelling to Argentina for the World Cup, Platini won the first major trophy of his playing career, captaining Nancy to victory in the 1978 French Cup final against Nice and scoring the only goal of the game. President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing presented him with the trophy. However, with the World Cup scheduled to start two weeks after the cup final, there was little time left for preparation.

Although Platini was not disgraced by his performances at his first World Cup, fans held him responsible for the French team's failure to progress in the tournament, and in the season that followed he was a target of jeering crowds. The situation came to a head in a match away to Saint-Étienne. Spurred on by booing fans, Platini competed for every ball, and he picked up a bad ankle injury in a tackle. As a result, he was ruled out of Nancy's Cup Winners' Cup campaign. His contract with the club expired in June 1979, and Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and Saint-Étienne emerged as the clubs most likely to sign him, although the Nancy club president had been unwilling to let Platini leave the club. Having set his mind on a transfer to Saint-Étienne, he signed a three-year contract with les Verts.

In spite of his injuries and the boos that would greet him, Platini maintained his pranksterish sense of humour. On away trips, he would set off firecrackers in public places and then pretend to be dead, inevitably drawing a crowd. While in Argentina for the World Cup, he would squeeze tubes of toothpaste into his team-mates' beds.

Platini at Saint-Étienne (1979-1982)

Platini's three years at Saint-Étienne were a mixed success. The club had signed him with a view to success in the European Cup, but despite some excellent results (including a 6-0 win over PSV Eindhoven in the 1979-80 UEFA Cup and a 5-0 win at Hamburg in the UEFA Cup the following season), the club were unable to surpass the feats of the Saint-Étienne side that had reached the final of the 1976 European Cup.

Platini won the French league title in 1981 with 'Les Verts', but was on a losing Saint-Étienne side in two French Cup finals, against Bastia in 1981 and against Paris Saint-Germain in 1982, in what was his last match for the club before joining Juventus. He left for a nominal transfer fee (under UEFA regulations) despite being out of contract and no fee being necessary under French regulations at the time.^[1]

Platini at Juventus (1982-1987)

Michel Platini holding aloft the Ballon d'Or in Juventus colours.

At Juventus, in a team featuring numerous members of Italy's victorious World Cup squad, Platini had a difficult introduction to Italian football. He was a target in the demanding Italian sports media, and even came close to leaving Italy in the winter of his first season. Platini and team-mate Zbigniew Boniek successfully called for a change in tactics, and in the second half of the season Juventus saw an upturn in their fortunes. They reached the European Cup final, losing to Hamburg, and won the Italian Cup, the first of many club honours to follow for Platini in the coming seasons. He won the Italian championship with Juventus in 1984 and 1986, the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1984, the 1984 European Super Cup, the European Cup in 1985 (in a controversial game against Liverpool), and the 1985 World Club Championship. He finished top scorer in Serie A for three consecutive seasons (1982-83, 1983-84 and 1984-85), and won a hat-trick of European Footballer of the Year awards (1983 through 1985). Platini was also voted Player of the Year by World Soccer magazine in 1984 and 1985.

The 1985 European Cup final against Liverpool at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels should have been the crowning moment of Platini's Juventus career. The stadium was not fit to stage a match of such importance, and before the teams had kicked off, a wall collapsed under the weight of Juventus fans rushing to avoid a group of Liverpool fans who had made their way into section Z of the ground. 39 people died, and 600 more were injured. It was decided to proceed with the match in order to avoid inciting any further trouble, and after both captains had appealed for calm, the match began just under an hour and a half beyond schedule, with riot police still engaged in a pitched battle with Juventus fans enraged by the lack of organization that had led to the bloodshed in the stadium. (See Heysel Stadium disaster.) Platini scored the only goal of the match from a penalty kick awarded for a foul on Zbigniew Boniek. In the days following the final, Platini was criticised in some quarters for his lack of restraint in celebrating Juventus' win. In his own defence, Platini maintained that like every other player on the field, he had not been made fully aware of the scale of the disaster.

Following the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Platini spent another season at Juventus before retiring from football in June 1987.

Platini's international career

Having first attracted the attention of national team selectors in the Coupe Gambardella tournament, Platini was selected for the French junior team, but injuries prevented him from playing. He made his first appearance for a French national selection playing for the French amateur side on September 26, 1973.

Platini began his military service in summer 1975. He was assigned to the Joinville battalion, as were all talented French sportspeople fulfilling their military obligations. His colleagues in the battalion included his Nancy team-mates Olivier Rouyer and Jean-Michel Moutier, as well as Maxime Bossis, soon to become a regular in the French national team along with Platini. Platini would turn out for the French military team, in addition to representing the French under-23s and the French Olympic team. He impressed in the Olympic team's 4-0 win over Romania in Brest, a result made even more impressive by the fact that Romania had fielded a full international side for the Olympic qualifier. Platini's performance made him a star in France. The away leg of the qualifying tie was a mere formality, France coming away with a 1-1 draw. Three days after the draw in Bucharest, Platini received his first call-up to the A national team for what was coach Michel Hidalgo's first game in charge, a friendly against Czechoslovakia in Paris (March 27, 1976, 2-2), and scored his first international goal on one of his trademark free kicks.

Platini was a member of the French football team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Their tournament began on July 19 with an easy 4-0 win over Mexico. They registered another 4-0 win in their next match against Guatemala, with two goals from Platini. The French team completed the group stage with a draw against Israel, Platini scoring from a penalty. France progressed to the quarter-final stage, where they would face a full-strength East German national team. Hindered by some dubious refereeing, France lost 4-0 and finished the match with nine men.

With a 3-1 win over Bulgaria at the Parc des Princes on November 16, 1977, a match in which Platini excelled in the role of playmaker and scored on a splendid 25-metre shot, France secured qualification for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina for their first appearance in the World Cup finals since 1966. In the month following the decisive qualifying match, Platini finished third in the voting for the 1977 European Footballer of the Year.

Among the international friendlies France played in preparation for the World Cup, their match against Italy in Naples on February 8, 1978 (2-2) was particularly significant for Platini. With a number of scouts from Italian clubs in attendance, he was in excellent form. He beat Italian goalkeeping legend Dino Zoff from two direct free-kicks, the first being ruled out because the referee had not blown his whistle. The re-taken free-kick was blocked by the defensive wall, but minutes later Platini had the ball in the Italian net from another free-kick. Zoff attempted to anticipate the flight of the ball by positioning himself on the left side of the goal, only for Platini to find the unguarded area of the net with his free-kick, leaving Zoff rooted to the spot. Platini's duels with Zoff and his performance in a match that was broadcast on Italian television made him a name in Italy. A number of clubs both in France (Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Étienne) and across Europe (Juventus, Inter Milan, Napoli, Barcelona, Valencia, and Arsenal, to name a few) began the clamour for his services.

In retrospect, this match may have been a Pyrrhic victory because Platini's brilliance drew the attention of Italy coach Enzo Bearzot, who devised a successful plan to contain him in a match-up that really mattered—the first round of the 1978 World Cup four months later. Platini was kept in check by Marco Tardelli's implacable marking and Italy won 2-1. Drawn in a difficult group with Italy as well as hosts (and eventual winners) Argentina, France did not survive the first round.

Platini was nonetheless made captain of the French national side after the World Cup and made the number 10 jersey his own. One of his trademark free-kicks helped France defeat Holland 2-0 in Paris (November 18, 1981) in a crucial qualifying match for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

France unexpectedly reached the semifinals of the 1982 World Cup where they met West Germany in Seville for what proved to be one of the great matches of World Cup history. With both sides level at 3-3 after extra time had been played (Platini having scored France's first goal of the game from a penalty) the match went to a penalty shoot-out which West Germany won 5-4. Interestingly, Platini would consider this match the greatest memory of his career.

In 1984, Platini captained France to success in the European Championship on home soil. His individual impact on the tournament was huge with nine of France's 14 goals in just five games (the top goal scorer in euro). He scored the winner in France's opening match against Denmark, and scored two "perfect" hat-tricks (one header and one goal with each foot) against Belgium and Yugoslavia, as France topped their first-round group with three wins out of three. In the dramatic semi-final in Marseille against Portugal, Platini scored the final goal of the match for a memorable 3-2 win in the last minute of extra time. In the final against Spain, he opened the scoreboard on his only free-kick goal of the tournament, helped by a monumental blunder from Spain goalkeeper Luis Arconada. A second goal from Bruno Bellone in injury time at the end of the match secured France's first major title in international football.

Suffering from groin pain and playing under injection, Platini was not in peak physical condition for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Nonetheless he contributed two important goals: the first setting France on the way to a 2-0 win over Italy and ending the 1982 champions' defence of their trophy; the second France's equaliser in a sumptuous quarter-final against Brazil, on his birthday, which France won on penalty kicks (Platini famously sending his over the bar). This goal was to be the last of his international career. After losing a second World Cup semi-final in a row to West Germany, France had to settle for third place. Platini did not take part in the 1982 or 1986 World Cup third-place matches.

Platini made his last appearance for France on April 29, 1987, in a European Championship qualifier at home to Iceland, a few weeks before announcing his retirement from all football. In 72 appearances for France from 1976 to 1987 (including 49 appearances as captain), Platini scored 41 times, a record for the French national team, which has since been surpassed by Barcelona FC striker Thierry Henry after scoring his 42nd and 43rd national team goals against Lithuania in a Euro qualifier on October 17, 2007.

Platini's coaching career

Platini was named coach of the French national side on November 1, 1988, replacing Henri Michel, who had been forced out after France infamously drew with Cyprus (1-1) in a 1990 World Cup qualifier. France's qualifying campaign was ultimately unsuccessful.

The focus of the team shifted to qualifying for the 1992 European Championship in Sweden. France excelled in the qualifying stages, winning all eight of their group matches, including notable victories away to Spain and Czechoslovakia. After a record 19-match unbeaten run, they were among the favourites to win the competition and Platini was named Manager of the Year by the World Soccer Awards. But a string of uninspiring performances in warm-up matches, followed by France's first-round elimination from the tournament, led Platini to step down as coach.

Administrative roles

Fernand Sastre, Lionel Jospin, Marie-George Buffet, and Michel Platini

Platini was, along with Fernand Sastre, head of the organizing committee for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, held in France. He served on the UEFA Technical Development Committee from 1988 to 1990. He has been a member of the UEFA Executive Committee and European member of the FIFA Executive Committee since 2002. He continued to climb the ranks of UEFA and FIFA football administration and as of 2006, he is a chairman of the FIFA Technical and Development Committee, while also being vice-president of the French Football Federation.

UEFA presidency

Platini confirmed that he would run for the UEFA presidency in July 2006.^[2] In the election in Düsseldorf on 26 January 2007, he defeated Lennart Johansson, who held the post for the previous 16 years, by 27 votes to 23. ^[3] Michel Platini based his speech on virtues of solidarity and universality.

Platini has recently backed the 6+5 idea, six home international players and five foreign players, to be introduced in top flight teams in Europe.

Honours

Individual honours

• 1976
  • France Football French Player of the Year
• 1977
  • France Football French Player of the Year
  • L'Équipe French Champion of Champions
• 1979
  • Selected in FIFA XI to play Argentina
• 1982
  • Selected in Europe team to face FIFA XI in charity match for UNICEF
• 1983
  • Capocannoniere (top scorer) in Italian championship (16 goals)
  • Coppa Super Clubs player of the tournament
  • Chevron Award (best goal per game ratio in Italian league)
  • European Footballer of the Year
  • Onze d'Or
• 1984
  • Capocannoniere (top scorer) in Italian championship (20 goals)
  • European Championship player of the tournament
  • European Championship top goalscorer (9 goals)
  • European Footballer of the Year
  • Guerin Sportivo magazine's player of the Italian championship
  • L'Équipe French Champion of Champions
  • Onze d'Or
  • World Soccer Player of the Year
• 1985
  • Capocannoniere (top scorer) in Italian championship (18 goals)
  • Chevron Award (best goal per game ratio in Italian league)
  • European Cup top scorer (7 goals)
  • Knight of the Legion of Honour
  • European Footballer of the Year
  • Onze d'Or
  • World Club Championship final, Man of the Match
  • World Soccer Player of the Year
• 1987
  • English Football League Centenary Classic match, Man of the Match
• 1988
  • Officer of the Legion of Honour
• 1991
  • El País European Coach of the Year
  • World Soccer Manager of the Year
• 1992
  • Winter Olympics, Albertville, France, lighter of the Olympic Flame with François-Cyrille Grange
• 2003
  • Artemio Franchi Prize
• 2004
  • Named in FIFA 100
• 2007
  • Elected UEFA President.

Club honours

• Nancy
  • 1975 French second division champion
  • 1978 French Cup winner
• Saint-Étienne
  • 1981 French league champion
  • 1981 French Cup runner-up
  • 1982 French Cup runner-up
• Juventus
  • 1983 Coppa Super Clubs winner
  • 1983 Italian Cup winner
  • 1983 European Cup runner-up
  • 1984 European Cup Winners' Cup winner (first French player to win the trophy)
  • 1984 European Super Cup winner
  • 1984 Italian league champion
  • 1985 European Cup winner
  • 1985 World Club Championship winner
  • 1986 Italian league champion

International honours

• 1984 European Championship winner
• 1985 Artemio Franchi Trophy winner
• 1986 World Cup third place
• 1976 Pre-Olympic Zone European

During Platini's international career, France were five times holders of Nasazzi's baton, and Platini was captain on the third, fourth, and fifth occasion that the French national team held the unofficial title while he was an international.

Career statistics

Quotes

• "An hour with Marguerite Duras was harder for me than any match in my career. Sometimes, there were even questions I had difficulty understanding. (...) I've never been questioned by someone as ignorant of football matters." - in Libération, April 4, 1996
• "I began by playing for the biggest club in the Lorraine region, went on to the biggest club in France and ended up with the biggest in the world." - at the Stadio Comunale Vittorio Pozzo of Turin, May 1987 ^[4]
• "I was born in football. My father was a very good football player, and as an Italian immigrant was always passionate about the game. Football is a fantastic and intelligent game which teaches us how to live together, how to share when you are better than others. Football is an extraordinary education for life." ^[5]
• "If a FIFA World Cup tournament had been held every year between 1982 and 1986, France would have won two or three." ^[4]
• "The boring thing is that you always have to justify yourself. I spent more time explaining why I made such and such a choice than making the choice."
• "The people who talked about a black, white, and Beur France were thirty years late. France has been black, white, and Beur for a long time. I was shocked by this discussion in 1998. I said to myself: "Look, people have discovered that France was like that." These people do not look around themselves very much. The thoughts of French people on immigrants have practically not changed at all for a hundred years. One day I was received by the deputy mayor of Belfort while coach of the French team. In his speech, the elected representative spoke of me as a good example of integration. I nearly insulted him. (...) I was very surprised because I never considered myself a foreigner. I had never spoken Italian, neither had my father. My grandfather spoke French too. I am third-generation. It was time I was integrated! The history of football is interesting to observe. When you look at the four French European Footballers of the Year, it is the history of immigration in France exactly. There is Kopa first, Platini, then, after Papin, Zidane. That perfectly sums up each era of foreign integration in France. By 1998, France had been black, white, and Beur for at least twenty years. I think that some of the people who lead us do not know their country. That is not playing politics, that is stating a fact." - L'Humanité, December 9, 2005
• "The street is the best way to become a good footballer."
• "What Zidane does with a ball, Maradona could do with an orange." ^[6]
• In the words of Bobby Charlton, "What a playmaker. He could thread the ball through the eye of a needle as well as finish." ^[7]
• "When I was a kid and played with my friends, I always chose to be Platini. I let my friends share the names of my other idols between themselves." Zinédine Zidane ^[8].

Bibliography

• Tournon Philippe, Platini, le football en fête, Paris, Alta Sport, 1977
• Collectif, Michel Platini : l'album photos, Paris, PAC, December 1982
• "Michel Platini : Ma vie comme un match", 1987

References and notes

France squad – 1978 FIFA World Cup 1 Baratelli • 2 Battiston • 3 Bossis • 4 Janvion • 5 Bracci • 6 Lopez • 7 Rio • 8 Trésor • 9 Bathenay • 10 Guillou • 11 Michel • 12 Papi • 13 Petit • 14 Berdoll • 15 Platini • 16 Dalger • 17 Lacombe • 18 Rocheteau • 19 Six • 20 Rouyer • 21 Bertrand‑Demanes • 22 Dropsy • Coach: Hidalgo

France squad – 1982 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Baratelli • 2 Amoros • 3 Battiston • 4 Bossis • 5 Janvion • 6 Lopez • 7 Mahut • 8 Trésor • 9 Genghini • 10 Platini • 11 Girard • 12 Giresse • 13 Larios • 14 Tigana • 15 Bellone • 16 Couriol • 17 Lacombe • 18 Rocheteau • 19 Six • 20 Soler • 21 Castaneda • 22 Ettori • Coach: Hidalgo

France squad – UEFA Euro 1984 Winners (1st title) 1 Bats • 2 Amoros • 3 Domergue • 4 Bossis • 5 Battiston • 6 Fernández • 7 Ferreri • 8 Bravo • 9 Genghini • 10 Platini • 11 Bellone • 12 Giresse • 13 Six • 14 Tigana • 15 Le Roux • 16 Rocheteau • 17 Lacombe • 18 Tusseau • 19 Bergeroo • 20 Rust • Coach: Hidalgo

France squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Bats • 2 Amoros • 3 Ayache • 4 Battiston • 5 Bibard • 6 Bossis • 7 Le Roux • 8 Tusseau • 9 Fernández • 10 Platini • 11 Ferreri • 12 Giresse • 13 Genghini • 14 Tigana • 15 Vercruysse • 16 Bellone • 17 Papin • 18 Rocheteau • 19 Stopyra • 20 Xuereb • 21 Bergeroo • 22 Rust • Coach: Michel

France squad – UEFA Euro 1992 1 Martini • 2 Amoros • 3 Silvestre • 4 Petit • 5 Blanc • 6 Casoni • 7 Deschamps • 8 Sauzée • 9 Papin • 10 Fernández • 11 Perez • 12 Cocard • 13 Boli • 14 Durand • 15 Divert • 16 Vahirua • 17 Garde • 18 Cantona • 19 Rousset • 20 Angloma • Coach: Platini

External links

• FIFA "Classic Players" biography - fifaworldcup.yahoo.com, FIFA - retrieved November 2006.
• Michel Platini - Goals in International Matches - www.rsssf.com - by José Luis Pierrend, RSSSF.
• (French) "Fiche de Michel Platini" - career summary - www.lequipe.fr - L'Equipe newspaper, 2006.