A few months after the disappearance of Just Fontaine, another veteran of the 1958 World Cup, where France finished third, left. Dean, for almost a year, of the French internationals, former goalkeeper Dominique Colonna died this Monday evening at the age of 95.
Of the Swedish Blues, only Robert Mouynet (93 years old, 0 selection) and Bernard Chiarelli (89 years old, 1 selection) remain. The latter two, like Colonna, had not played any match in the tournament.
Born in Corte in 1928, Colonna can boast a fine track record. Quadruple champion of France with Nice (1956), then the great Reims of Just Fontaine and Roger Piantoni (1958, 1960, 1962), finalist of the European Cup in 1959 against Real Madrid, he knew the Blues thirteen times from 1957 to 1961, and therefore finished 3rd in the 1958 World Cup as third goalkeeper (François Remetter playing the first two matches, Claude Abbes the following). He also wore the colors of SO Montpellier and Stade Français-Red-Star.
He is an emblematic goalkeeper of the Cité des Sacres club who is leaving us… ???? With more than 200 matches played in ????&⚪️, Mr. Colonna will remain this iconic name of the great Reims ????
To his family, to his loved ones, Stade de Reims presents its most sincere condolences ????… pic.twitter.com/7RbFZnyx4p
— Stade de Reims (@StadeDeReims) September 12, 2023
In 1963, Stade de Reims finished runner-up in the French championship. At 35, Colonna chose to hang up his career to become coach of Cameroon. A position he held for two years, before becoming technical advisor for the States of Central Africa and Congo Kinshasa until 1974.
For the record, Dominique Colonna was the first winner in the history of Loto football. He pocketed 2.34 million francs (a little over 350,000 euros) on October 1, 1985.
