Lucky 13 for France legend Fontaine

To help mark UEFA's Jubilee, each national association was asked to nominate its most outstanding player of the past 50 years. In the latest of a series of articles looking at the Golden Player selected by the nations who have qualified for UEFA EURO 2008™, uefa.com remembers the career of France's Just Fontaine.

He might be 74 years old, but for Just Fontaine, the memories of France's FIFA World Cup adventure of 1958 remain undimmed. That was the Swedish summer when the centre-forward scored 13 goals in six matches – still a tournament record.

Club success
The French team's journey to the World Cup semi-finals began with a training session in Orly in May 1958. Fontaine had spent the previous night toasting the double triumph of his club, Stade de Reims Champagne, in the French league and cup.

Borrowed boots
However, he received an unwelcome wake-up call when his boots fell apart in mid-session. "We just had two boots at the time, and no sponsor." Happily for Fontaine, team-mate Stéphane Bruey had similar-sized feet and lent the striker his pair. Thirteen goals later, he eventually got them back. "I tell people that my goals were inspired by a meeting of two minds inside one boot," Fontaine joked.

Relaxed mood
The French squad were the first to arrive in Sweden, "because they will be the first to leave," the French press taunted. However, the low expectations meant the players could approach the competition in relaxed mood. In between card schools, fishing in the local lakes, and the odd game of bowls, France's players claimed wins against Paraguay (7-3) and Scotland (2-1) but lost against Yugoslavia (2-3).

Brazilian collision
Those results, however, were good enough to secure progress from Group B and a quarter-final place. Here, the French beat Northern Ireland 4-0 to set up a semi-final against a Brazilian side featuring Vavá, Garrincha and a young Pelé. Although Fontaine equalised Vavá's early goal for the Seleção, Brazil ran out 5-2 winners as France were hamstrung by an injury to their captain Robert Jonquet.

Fontaine regrets
"We lost that match 5-2 but we were down to ten men for the entire second half," Fontaine recalled. "I had just equalised at 1-1 when Jonquet was injured, and in those days you couldn't replace an injured player. I still have real regrets about that match."

Attacking style
Nor were the nine goals he had scored up to this point any consolation. "Back then, no one gave much thought to the top scorer's prize. I scored goals because I hit it off with [fellow striker] Raymond Kopa, we were happy together and the team was playing attacking football. In six matches, we managed to score 23 times."

Goal a game
All the same, Fontaine had registered at least a goal a game at these finals and, going into the third-place play-off game against West Germany, he was just two short of the World Cup record set by Hungary's Sándor Kocsis in Switzerland four years earlier.

Lap of honour
Four more strikes followed in a 6-3 win against the West Germans, after which Fointaine's team-mates carried him around the pitch on their shoulders in a well-earned lap of honour. "It was only then that I realised what I'd done," he said. "But I soon forgot again – I preferred to think about our third place rather than my first."

Early retirement
Two years later, Fontaine scored his 29th and 30th international goals against Chile. They were to be his last. Four days after that match, on 20 March, the centre-forward broke his leg in a French league game against FC Sochaux Montbéliard. The injury ended his career at the age of 27.

Old pals' act
Four decades on, however, the legacy of his playing days is strong, including a World Cup scoring record and a longstanding friendship with his former colleagues. "You know, all the lads who were in Sweden, we still see each other," he said. Some legacy.