Platini: My Way

Was it hard to keep your mind on school?

“Well, yes. I could have gone on with my studies but trying to find a balance between football and schoolwork was very difficult, especially when I was given the opportunity to play the game at the very highest level. So, a choice had to be made at some stage and I chose the youth-team centre rather than the classroom.”

And so Platini went on improving his skills. In March 1976 he was called up to the full national side against Czechoslovakia. And he celebrated his debut by scoring with one of those cur ling banana free-kicks which were to become his trademark. France’s new manager for that game was Michel Hidalgo who later, with Platini, led France to European glory. Platini then shared a room with the veteran international Henri Michel who is currently the French team chief.

Fur ther international selections followed, so that in this important phase of his career Platini represented his countr y at youth, U21, senior level, for the French army team and also the amateurs who qualified for the 1976 Olympics. In 1977 he was voted France’s “Spor tsman of the Year”.

Not surprisingly clubs from abroad began taking interest in this remarkably developing footballer. Both Valencia and Inter approached Nancy, but the fee of £1 million put them off. Then Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Etienne entered the bidding. So, after seven seasons with Nancy, for whom he hit 98 goals in 175 league games and won the cup in 1978, Platini left to further his career with a top-class club in every sense.

Why Saint-Etienne?

“Simply, they were the best club in France. In the previous 12 years they had won the title seven times and the cup five times. They had won the league and cup double four times in that period. There was no doubt about their quality. Also, you remember, Saint-Etienne had reached the European Champions’ Cup final in 1976 when they lost very unluckily against Bayern Munich in Glasgow. Almost every French boy wanted to play for them, not just me.”

At first everything seemed fine. In 1981 SaintEtienne stormed to their tenth league title. But the next and last season he spent with the club was probably the worst for him on and off the field. In the European Cup Saint-Etienne were quickly put out by the dour East Germans from Dynamo Ber lin; in the championship they were pipped by one point by Monaco.

So then you were ready to go to Italy?

“The Italians had ended their ban on foreign players – which had been imposed in the mid-1960s – in 1980. But at the time I was under contract to Saint-Etienne who had no wish to let me go. They didn’t need the money. At first the Italians allowed their first division clubs only one foreign player each. But then, in 1982, they decided to open the rules up to allow two imports per team. By coincidence that was when my contract with Saint-Etienne came to an end and so, after the World Cup finals in Spain, I signed for Juventus.

“I know people said I replaced Liam Brady, forced him out even, but that was a simplistic idea. In 1982, as I said, the Italians decided to allow each club to field two foreign players instead of one. Juventus had Brady already but wanted to sign both myself and Zbigniew Boniek from Poland as well. Clearly there wasn’t room for all three of us, so Brady went to Sampdoria. But whether I replaced him or Boniek did is something for which there is no easy answer.”

What differences did you find between playing in France and playing in Italy?

“The very obvious one, which is no real secret. In Italy it’s the defence which matters most. Every team takes care to try to get the defence right,

What is it like to play for Juventus?

“One of the great experiences of one’s life. You are playing at the summit of the game. Juventus are a very ambitious club and this gets through to everyone involved in the club. They are also a very fair and generous club. Win everything and the rewards are good. I can say that morale among the players is very high. Our results over the past few years prove the point.”

Not every result has gone your way, though. What went wrong in the defeat by Hamburg in the European Cup final in 1983?

“At that level, there is very little to separate the two teams who reach such a match. People who made us such clear favourites weren’t being realistic, they were underrating Hamburg –“Whether I have any particular talent which is out of the ordinary is not for me to judge. If coaches and journalists think that, I am very flattered but I don’t go around claiming that on my own behalf”

in terms of players and tactics. They reason that if they don’t concede then at least they are sure of one point out of the game. Above all, the result is what matters. And when they talk in Italy about the result, they mean a draw or a win. Defeat doesn’t count as a result, it’s a sort of disaster.” which wasn’t fair on them or us. Hamburg happened to get an early goal through Felix Magath. That gave them an obvious advantage. They defended very well, were very intelligently organised and were determined to hang on to their lead. There was nothing we could do.”

What about the fans?

“It ’s a fact that many more people come along to see us play in Turin than in France. That I can’t deny. But I believe I was very lucky while I was playing in France, because the supporters at Nancy and then at Saint-Etienne were quite as magnificent as those of Juventus have proved themselves. Perhaps not everyone has had that luck. But again, I can only speak as I find.”

Surrounded by the bulk of Italy’s Wor ld Cup winners and the newly-acquired Pole Boniek, Platini’s talents f lourished. He became the league’s top scorer in each of his three seasons in Italy, and the awards kept pouring in. Platini strolled off with the Golden Ball (for the best player) and Golden Boot (for nine-goal top scorer) after the 1984 French European Championship triumph, and in both 1983 and 1984 he was clear winner of the European Footballer of the Year crown.

In 1983 Platini won with 110 points, ahead of runner-up Kenny Dalglish who polled 26 points. In 1984 his triumph was even more overwhelming; he received a record 128 out of a possible 130 points. Only two journalists placed Platini second - giving their top vote to Jean Tigana and Ian Rush.

Platini has become a wealthy man in Italian football. He ranks only ninth in the table of Italian basic salary earners, but, unlike those ahead of him, he is allowed to keep his earnings from promotion and sponsorship to himself. He also runs a football school and is presenter of a football show for “Tele Monte Car lo”.

His old school mates who once mocked his sticking out ears now sit transfixed watching his ball virtuosity on television.

And what of the day you did, eventually, win the European Cup, in Brussels?

“A day I want to forget. We won the match but what did it matter? At Juventus we want to win it again to prove we can be worthy champions. But Brussels...I can never forget. I don’t like talking about it. It brings back too much.”

Looking ahead, what can you and France achieve at the 1986 World Cup?

“I’m not going to make any boasts about what we will do. I realise that after finishing fourth in Spain, and after winning the Euros, we will be among the favourites in Mexico. All I can promise is that we will do our best to win. People talk about the altitude, heat, smog and playing at midday. But to my mind the only problem will be the altitude. As for the rest – it ’s amazing how a little bit of success can carry you through. The most dangerous opponents are going to be the obvious ones, as usual. From Europe you must pick out England, West Germany, Italy; from South America, it’s Brazil and Argentina, as well as the hosts, Mexico, of course.”

What about rumours of your retirement?

“I haven’t set a date. My contract with Juventus ends in June 1986 and then I will take stock. When I do stop playing I’ll spend my time looking after my business interests, and in particular my sports centre at St Cyprien in the South of France. Also my family is very important to me. My wife, my children, my parents are my ‘refuge’ from all the pressures of being what I have become to the outside world. It’s the peace I find in my home, with my family, which keeps me sane.”