Michel Platini

Monday, December 1, 2008

Michel Platini

Michel Platini (June 21, 1955, Jœuf, Département Meurthe-et-Moselle) is a former French football player, regarded as one of the most elegant midfielders of his generation and, along with Zinedine Zidane, is one of the greatest French footballers of all time. Furthermore, he is acknowledged as one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

Biography

Born in Lorraine of mainly French and part Italian descent, Michel Platini's grandfather Francesco having immigrated from Italy in search of his fortune in France. Platini (nickname: 'platoche') started his career as a teenager at French club AS Nancy-Lorraine before moving on to Saint-Etienne, where he won the league title in 1981. In 1982 he moved to Italian club side Juventus, scoring an astonishing 68 goals in 147 league games as a midfielder, and was Serie A's top goalscorer three years in a row. Platini helped the club win two league titles, the Italian Cup, the European Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup

Platini captained the French national team to European Championship honours in 1984, becoming the top scorer of the tournament with nine goals: the opening score of the tournament against Denmark, hat-tricks against Belgium and Yugoslavia, a last-minute winner against Portugal in the epic semi-final in Marseilles, and a free-kick against Spain in the final in Paris.

Platini was one of the greatest passers of the ball in the 1980s, and, despite nominally being a midfielder, was also an outstanding goalscorer. Platini was an integral part of the "carré magique" that included Alain Giresse, Luis Fernandez and Jean Tigana. This group of four sumptuously talented players formed the heart of the France team throughout the 1980s and nearly brought success in 1982 and 1986 to go along with the European Championship of 1984. In the words of Bobby Charlton, "he could thread the ball through the eye of a needle as well as finish." Platini was also a master of the free kick, which he practised using a row of dummies during training.

He was voted European footballer of the year (Ballon d'or) an unprecedented three times in succession, in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Platini was also voted World Soccer Player of the Year in 1984 and 1985.

Platini was, together with François-Cyrille Grange, the lighter of the Olympic Flame at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. He was also the head of the organizing committee for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, held in France. Platini has continued to climb the UEFA and FIFA football administration hierarchies and is presently (2006) chairman of the FIFA Technical and Development Committee.

Teams

US Quiestede (1963-1965) (trainee)

AS Joeuf (1966-1972) (trainee)

AS Nancy (1973-1979)

AS Saint-Étienne (1979-1982)

Juventus (1982-1987)

Trivia

Platini's digital image from back in the 80's was featured in Adidas' famed José + 10 advertisement, where he is shown playing among such contemporary greats like David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Jermaine Defoe, Oliver Kahn, Michael Ballack, Kaká, Riquelme, Arjen Robben, Lukas Podolski, Raúl González, fellow countrymen Zinedine Zidane and Djibril Cissé, and even the legendary Franz Beckenbauer (also digitally reproduced).