THE RISE AND F ALL OF MICHEL PLATINI
Platini’s dreams of a European Championship across the continent this summer are in tatters, prolonging his post- UEFA shame. It wasn’t always like this: The King was once planet football’s finest player when inspiring France to glory at Euro 84. But it’s
Michel Platini never expected to become a living ghost. When the furore over his support for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid – and his $ 2 million back salary payment from FIFA – was at its most intense, he would put on a pair of glasses or a hat before he left home. “You know, I’m Michel Platini – everyone knows me,” he told the New York Times. “The way that people looked at me was totally different.” Sometimes, envisaging the accusing looks from passers- by, he just stayed indoors.
The disgrace must have been very hard to comprehend for someone who had seldom encountered a predicament that he couldn’t charm his way out of.
And it must have been doubly difficult for someone who, as a player, had everything – even if he didn’t win everything – and who Pele had said was the only French footballer who would be picked for any Brazilian team of any era.
Platini’s father, Aldo, a good amateur player and a long- time director at Nancy, educated him in football. While watching Alfredo Di Stefano in a friendly once, the young Platini, marvelling at one wondrous pass from the Argentine, asked his dad, “How did he know he was there?” When Aldo didn’t comment,
Michel thought for a moment and then said, “Ah, because he had already looked.”
At 17 years old, Platini’s dream of playing professional football seemed to be in shreds. He had fainted during a breathing test in his medical at Metz and was then diagnosed – wrongly – as having a weak heart.
The psychological consolation of joining the reserve team at Nancy, where Aldo worked, helped him to regain his confidence. Platini Jr made his first- team debut against Nimes on May 3, 1973. In 1974- 75, he scored 17 goals as Les Chardons ( The Thistles) stormed back into Ligue 1. However, for Platini, it took a lot of effort to make football look effortless. In the 1960s, he had made a habit of returning to school early in his lunch break to squeeze in an extra 30 minutes of practice. At Nancy, he spent hours practising free- kicks using a wall of dummies and his friend, goalkeeper Jean- Michel Moutier.
In football, timing can be everything. In the late 1970s, as Platini was mastering his trade, the French game was enjoying a renaissance.
In 1976, Saint- Etienne reached the European Cup final against Bayern Munich. Two years later, Bastia shocked Europe – and possibly themselves – by battling their way through to the UEFA Cup final against PSV Eindhoven. And most significantly for Platini, from 1978 onwards Les Bleus rediscovered the knack of qualifying for the World Cup, something they had failed to do since 1966.
The season after France’s group stage exit at Argentina 78, Platini was vilified, David Beckham- style, by away supporters across France. Desperate to silence the booing fans, Platini overdid it during one game and badly injured his ankle.
It was a strange, bittersweet way to say goodbye to Nancy and, although he won the Ligue 1 title at his next club, Saint- Etienne, they hardly scaled great heights in Europe. Luckily for Platini, and for football, Juventus made him an offer he didn’t want to refuse. It was 1982, and Platini was 27: a crucial time in the careers of many great footballers.
Before he could link up with the Bianconeri, however, there was a World Cup to go and win in Spain. France started badly in Bilbao, losing 3- 1 to a mediocre England side after conceding 27 seconds into the tournament. But they played some pleasing football from then on, and gathered momentum leading up to their notorious Seville semi- final clash with West Germany.
Despite being 3- 1 up with only 18 minutes of extra time to go, France lost on penalties. Their defeat was thanks in large part to the unfathomable decision from Dutch referee Charles Corver not to send off West Germany goalkeeper Harald Schumacher, following an assault that knocked out two of substitute defender’s Patrick Battiston’s teeth, cracked several ribs, damaged his vertebrae and left him unconscious for half an hour. Platini and Alain Giresse were also fouled in the build- up to West Germany’s second goal.
Asked about the showdown 17 years later – the greatest, he said, of his career – Platini shrugged and said, “What can you do?” The former playmaker tried to be philosophical about such vicissitudes, saying once: “After I scored in Europe, I am a king. After a defeat, I am a harlot. Which is the truth?”
Yet France did put their sorrow in Seville to good use. Platini explained: “We had reached a point where French football could honestly say, ‘ Hey, we’re good’. Before that match, we didn’t know. When we lost that semi- final, we realised we were a good football team and convinced ourselves that we were capable of winning the European Championship two years later.”
IN 1984, THE FRENCHMAN INSPIRED HIS NATION’S FIRST- EVER TRIUMPH IN AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM SPORT
On home turf at Euro 84, Platini scored nine goals in only five matches: two headers, two free- kicks, one penalty and four from open play with his feet. Platini was as good in 1984 as Johan Cruyff had been in 1974 and Diego Maradona would be in 1986.
It wasn’t just the goals, the technique, the flair and the joy in his play – it was also the
intelligence with which he managed games. No less a judge than great Italian playmaker Gianni Rivera said: “Platini embodied the flair, intelligence and creativity associated with the No. 10 role.”
Long- standing France boss Michel Hidalgo, a fervent believer in attacking football, picked four creative midfielders collectively known as Le Carré Magique ( The Magic Square): Luis Fernandez, Jean Tigana, Giresse and Platini. Rather than build a side around the Juventus man, Hidalgo encouraged him to adapt his game. As the host nation altered their shape against different opponents en route to the final, their No. 10 starred as a centre- forward, playmaker and regista.
In a rare major international tournament for which he was fully fit – Platini had played with a groin problem at the 1982 World Cup and then had a nerve problem at Mexico 86 – he inspired France’s first- ever triumph in an international team sport and won the second of three consecutive Ballons d’or.
In an entertaining interview with novelist Marguerite Duras in 1987, Platini remarked that a footballer could build an entire career out of one game, if it was the right match, at the right time, in front of the right television cameras. No one could accuse him of doing that. His two hat- tricks at Euro 84 – the first coming in a dazzling 5- 0 win over Belgium, the second in a 3- 2 success against a spirited Yugoslavia outfit – would have defined the careers of lesser players.
Yet Le Roi – ‘ The King’ – was not contented. After an injury- hampered start to life at Juve, during which time he almost left the club in despair, Platini lit up calcio by finishing as the capocannoniere ( the mantle for Serie A’s top goalscorer) in three consecutive campaigns. He bagged 16 goals in 1982- 83, another 20 in 1983- 84, then 18 in 1984- 85 – all while not playing as a striker.
In a stellar Old Lady squad – team- mates included Roberto Bettega, Zbigniew Boniek, Paolo Rossi, Gaetano Scirea, Marco Tardelli and Dino Zoff – Platini was one of few players who could stand up to and even charm the club’s suave, ruthless owner, Gianni Agnelli.
Once, having been caught smoking inside the dressing room by Juve’s head honcho, Platini pointed at midfielder Giuseppe Furino, who was notorious for covering every blade of grass on the pitch. “You only need to worry if he starts smoking,” joked the Frenchman.
The artistry of prime Platini is encapsulated by his Coppa Italia group stage goal against Pescara on August 22, 1982. Lurking midway in the Pescara half, the 27- year- old trapped a defensive clearance with his chest, lobbed the ball over four players and into the penalty area, took what looked like at least three too many touches, and nonchalantly placed the ball beyond the goalkeeper.
What should have been the highlight of his playing career – winning the European Cup in 1985 and scoring in the final against holders Liverpool – was entirely overshadowed by the tragedy at Heysel, in which 39 people died.