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Once upon a time, the blues were crazy: Euro 1984, Platini’s masterpiece

It is a time that those under 40 cannot know… A time when France still believed that football was played eleven against eleven and, at the end, the Germans always won. Whether Bayern Munich in the final of the Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1976 against Saint-Etienne or the Mannschaft in 1982 in the drama of a boiling World Cup semi-final lost on penalties by the Blues. In reality, in those years, the Germans did not always win. But the French were losing all the time.

At the dawn of Euro 1984, organized in France, the wind of change is on the move. The inevitable Germany, reigning European champion and vice-world champion, is favorite. The French team, it still feels the wound of Seville burning it and dreams of a first international title since its creation in 1904. Often accused of romanticism exacerbated at that time and cruelly nicknamed “champions of the world of friendly matches”, the Blues have an incomparable advantage in their ranks. The best player in the world: Michel Platini.

From Seville, Platini has grown. He turns 29 on June 21. He left Saint-Etienne for Juventus Turin and has just received the trophy for the best player in Europe, the Ballon d’Or 1983. “In 1984, Michel was in the best physical shape of his career, notes his teammate of then, Jean-Marc Ferreri. In 1986, at the next World Cup, he was handicapped by physical problems. But, in 1984, it’s simple, he flew over everything. “

“We understood that Michel was in great shape”

Takeoff is however delicate. For its first match at the Parc des Princes, on June 12, against Denmark, France is tense and comes up against the Danish defense. At the end of the match, a shot from Platini, blocked by the head of an opposing defender, finally delivered the Blues (1-0).

But it is four days later that Platini will strike the spirits. On June 16, in Nantes, for the inauguration of the new Beaujoire stadium, France welcomes Belgium. A playful and feared team, led in particular by Franky Vercauteren and Jan Ceulemans. “Belgium at the time was a great team, remembers defender Manuel Amoros. It was after this match that we realized that we could go far and that Michel was in great shape. “

Facing Belgium, Michel Platini registered his first hat-trick at Euro 1984. Icon Sport

Because the Belgians, in the Nantes furnace, bow heavily (5-0) thanks to a hat-trick by Michel Platini, who regales with a goal from the left, one from the right and one from the head. From the 4th minute, the Ballon d’Or had unblocked the situation and put France into orbit with a powerful strike after a free kick from Battiston on the bar. Surrounded by two other playmakers, Alain Giresse and Bernard Genghini, Platoche lights up the lawn with his technique and his vision of the game. A penalty and a header at the end of the match later, Platini already has four goals in two games .

Another treble against Yugoslavia

In the third group stage challenge, France faces Saint-Etienne, a Yugoslavia that has already been eliminated but is full of individual talents such as Mecha Bazdarevic, Dragan Stojkovic and Safet Susic. Freed, the Yugoslavs lead 1-0 at the break. “In Geoffroy-Guichard’s locker room, Michel was not worried,” recalls Bruno Bellone. He told me: If I have a exploitable free kick, you will see, it will be goal! “

That evening, Platini will do better than keep his prophecy. Alone, with a hat trick (three consecutive goals), he will overturn everything. Still scoring with the left foot, the head and then the right foot (the famous free kick announced). “Almost forty years later, I think it was his most successful match,” recalls Jean-Marc Ferreri. He was literally flying. “

Stade Vélodrome, June 23, 1984. At the end of extra time against Portugal, Platini scored the goal that sent France to the final.  Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Stade Vélodrome, June 23, 1984. At the end of extra time against Portugal, Platini scored the goal that sent France to the final. Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

In the semi-final in Marseille against Portugal, France was blocked for a long time by surprising Lusitanians who opened the scoring. “In the 25th minute, we get a free kick,” explains Manuel Amoros. Michel is about to shoot him but Jean-François Domergue, our defender tells him that he feels the shot. Proof that Michel is not obsessed with his own statistics, he leaves the ball to Domergue. He had better not miss it anyway. And he did. “

“I played with God that summer”

But the match remains tense. At the end of extra time, the two teams, tied (2-2), are preparing to compete in the penalty shootout, so fatal to the Blues two years earlier in Seville. But Jean Tigana refuses this idea, escapes in the right corridor and center back for Platini. “He controls and performs the perfect gesture to score,” admires Bruno Bellone.

In the final against Spain, the weather was heavy and the match tense. But Platini will still make the difference. His 57th-minute free kick was not a masterpiece, but Spanish goalkeeper Luis Arconada released the ball into his own cage. Baptizing, against his will, this type of dumpling for a porter. Finally, Bellone sealed the French victory. “I played with God that summer, synthesize the latter. He was touched by grace. “

In the end, Platini will have scored nine goals in five games during the final phase of the Euro. Thirty-six years later, while the teams can play up to seven games, his record still stands.

Parc des Princes, June 27, 1984. The Blues celebrate their victory in the Euro final against Spain (2-0).  Ipp / Icon Sport
Parc des Princes, June 27, 1984. The Blues celebrate their victory in the Euro final against Spain (2-0). Ipp / Icon Sport
All episodes of Fol Eté des Bleus

1. 1984, Platini in the firmament

2. 1998, White, the funny summer of the president

3. 2000, Wiltord, a truly golden goal

4. 2006, Zidane, from Olympus to darkness

5. 2016, Grizou’s double hit

6. 2018, Pavard, a flight for eternity

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