1984 European Nations Championships - France

Platini takes France to the top

French players pose around the Cup and their coach Michel Hidalgo (with tie) after winning their first-ever European Nations championship title beating Spain 2-0 at the Parc des princes stadium 27 June 1984 in Paris. (B&W only)

French team captain and midfielder Michel Platini is all smiles as he holds aloft the winner's cup after France defeated Spain 2-0 in the final of the Euro-84 soccer championship, 27 June 1984 at the Parc des princes in Paris, earning its first-ever European title. (B&W only)

Two years after a semi-final penalty shoot-out defeat to West Germany in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, France found itself with a double objective for Euro-84 : to show that it was capable of hosting a major competition, and demonstrate that its best 11 footballers were worthy of standing alongside Europe's elite.

The dream of Fernand Sastre, then president of the French Football Federation, soon became reality with the aid of a superb squad led by a Michel Platini at the summit of his career.

Platini set a precedent by going on to show that a major event could be hugely influenced by an individual, practically carrying the team to its first ever European title in a competition that was well organised and, furthermore, a great spectacle.

The semi-finals

World champions Italy, the USSR and England all failed to reach the final stages of the competition after being eliminated in the opening rounds, and a question mark hung ominously over the quality of the event.

France thus found itself sitting alongside Denmark, Belgium and Yugoslavia in Group 1 while West Germany, the defending champions, were regarded as favourites in Group 2 that also included Portugal, Romania and Spain.

To reinvigorate the competition, that featured 15 matches being played throughout seven cities - Paris, Lens, Nantes, Lyon, Marseille, Strasbourg and Saint-Etienne - the organisers made a slight modification by establishing semi-finals between the top two teams in each group.

Platini on fire

The greatest shock in the first round was Germany's elimination, third in Group 2 behind Spain and Portugal. France confirmed its objectives by leading its group ahead of the impressive Danes, a euphoric Platini showing his full range of capabilities with two hat-tricks against Belgium in Nantes (5-0) and Yugoslavia in Saint-Etienne (3-2).

French captain and midfielder Michel Platini (R) tries to dribble by Portuguese Jaime Pacheco (C) as Joao Pinto looks on, during the European Nations soccer championship semi-final match between France and Portugal, 23 June 1984 at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. France beat Portugal 3-2 in extra time on a last-minute goal by Platini. (BW ONLY)

Michel Hidalgo's "Bleus" took their case for an place in European footballing history a stage further after an entertaining and breath-taking semi-final against Portugal in Marseille (3-2 after extra time). A brace of goals from Jean-Francois Domergue, supplemented by yet another Platini strike, put France through to its first final against neighbours Spain.

Spanish goalkeeper Luis Arconada dives in vain to try to stop the ball as it rolls behind the goal line following the free kick from French team captain and midfielder Michel Platini during the final of the Euro-84 soccer championship, 27 June 1984 at the Parc des princes in Paris. France defeated Spain 2-0 to earn its first-ever European title. (B&W only)

A free kick taken by Platini opened the scores after a monumental blunder from the Spanish goalkeeper Luis Arconada. This goal was followed by a Bruno Bellone effort in the final minutes of the match to give France victory and its first European championships title.

Platini who deservedly collected the Cup as captain finished the tournament with nine goals, a record that still stands today.

Did you know ? - 1984

ALL WHITE NOW

The Danes asked UEFA for permission not to wear the colours that had been assigned to them for their semi-final match against Spain (white shirt, red shorts, white socks) as they had not won in that strip for three years. UEFA accepted the request and the Danes played in all-white, though in the end they were beaten on penalties.

FRIENDSHIP

Players from both the Belgian and Danish squads met an hour and a half before kick-off in their tie to inspect the pitch with hugs being given all round. At that time there were a large number of Danish players plying their trade in the Belgian league, prompting the Danish coach Sepp Piontek to remark : "this is a special match, a match between friends."

French midfielder Luis Fernandez (L) tries to dribble past his Belgian counterpart during the European Nations soccer championship match between France and Belgium, 16 June 1984 in Nantes. France beat Belgium 5-0 with captain Michel Platini scoring three goals.

NAMESAKE

The French midfielder Luis Fernandez had the strange surprise of being interviewed by... Luis Fernandez. The latter, a journalist with a Spanish television station, could not pass up the opportunity of meeting his namesake.

Odds

France started as the English bookies' favourites at 15/8 while before the opening match the Spaniards were offered at 8/1. West Germany were second favourites, with odds of 5/2, Belgium were at 7-1, Denmark at 8/1, Portugal at 14/1, and Romania and Yugoslavia both at 16/1.

PREDICTION

The "magus" of French football, Marcelus Toe-Guor, a lifelong supporter of "Les Bleus", telephoned the national team coach Michel Hidalgo to predict the victory of the French over Spain in the final. Since 1977, the magus has been sending his "telepathic protection" to the players.

THIRST

The arrival of 16,000 Danes in Lyon for their match against Yugoslavia caused a number of problems. This was not, however, a case of fans running amok and causing acts of vandalism, but simply because the Lyon pubs quickly ran out of beer. Thus, the management of the "Savoy", one of the city centre's largest establishments, were worried about the consequences of a Danish win, and rightly so....the Vikings went on to win 5-0.