Ten great EURO moments: Platini's last-gasp goal
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Article summary
Nine days to go: The last time France hosted the UEFA European Championship, in 1984, they lifted the trophy – not without a dramatic intervention in the semi-finals, though.
Article top media content
Article body
The game: France 3-2 Portugal (aet), 1984 semi-finals
The date: 23 June 1984
The location: Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
The protagonist: Michel Platini
What made it special?
Portugal were hanging on for penalties when Jean Tigana won the ball back and emptied his lungs to reach the byline. When his low cross cut out Paulo Bento it was coolly stopped by Platini and clipped in, to the explosive delight of a partisan crowd. The sight of Platini running along the touchline with his arms out and a sea of French flags flying in the crowd behind him was the enduring image of the tournament. Tigana made the winner on his 29th birthday.
What did it mean?
The goal came to cap arguably the most vivid match in the competition's history, and probably a landmark moment in French football history. Some fourteen years later, France launched in style their winning-FIFA World Cup campaign in the same stadium.
- Pick Platini in your All-time EURO 11
- All the best photos from the tournament
- How have the hosts fared at past EUROs?
How Platini remembers it …
"In the last seven minutes of extra time, we desperately tried to decide the game, especially after Tigana told us he'd never won a penalty shoot-out! We knew we had to avoid that."
Michel Hidalgo, France coach
"For a few minutes, I thought it was over. We came back from hell."
What the papers said
Platini's goal was "The key to paradise" according to the front page of L'Équipe.
