#4 Michel Platini
As Player
The man who would go on to be President of UEFA, once played in the premier UEFA competition as one of the best players in Europe. Between him, Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse and Luis Fernandez they formed the backbone of the French National side through the end of the 70’s and beginning of the 80’s (together they were dubbed “Le Carre Magique” which meant “The Magic Square” in French)
In 1984, Michel Platini captained the French national side to the European Championships on home soil. He scored an astounding 9 goals (out of the 14 the French team scored as a whole) in the 5 games he played in the tournament and was declared the player of the tournament whilst also being the top scorer.
He scored a ‘perfect hat-trick’ against Belgium in the group stage as well as another against Denmark. He scored the winner against Portugal in their semi-final and finally scored the opener in the final from a fine free kick to cap a brilliant tournament overall.
As Manager
As manager, Platini led his France into a 19 match unbeaten run before the 1992 European Championships in Sweden. However, his campaign as manager was a far cry from his campaign as a player in this tournament. The French drew their games to England and Sweden before eventually being beaten by Denmark in the group stage causing the team to crash out of the tournament rather unceremoniously.
