A former Ballon D'or and European Championship winner, Michel Platini remains one of the most iconic players to grace the stage at Europe's historic international tournament.
Platini won Euro 1984 with France, sandwiched between three consecutive Ballon D'or victories as well as lifting the European Cup with Juventus in a prime very few players have ever been able to match.
With Euro 2024 just days away, Platini sat down with FourFourTwo to discuss the pinnacle of what was a glittering period of the Frenchman.
Euro '84 - Platini's finest hour
Platini headed into the tournament, hosted in his homeland, fresh from another fantastic season in Turin, finishing the season as Serie A's top goalscorer with a title-winning Juventus side.
France kicked off their campaign against Denmark, a tense 1-0 win thanks to the midfielder's 78th minute strike, before grabbing three more in the 5-0 win over Belgium on match day two.
Platini ended the three group stage games with seven goals following another hat trick just days later, and would score in both the semi final and final to help crown France champions.
“We put in our best performance of the tournament against Belgium in Nantes," he told FourFourTwo.
"It was in front of 50,000 spectators, for the inauguration of the Stade de la Beaujoire, and it was 40 degrees. It was the first time in my life that I’d won a match in Nantes, because I’d never won at their old stadium, the Stade Marcel-Saupin.
"With Tigana, Fernandez and Giresse, we had a team that played possession football – we knew we had to do that to succeed. We won 5-0 and it sent a message to the whole world.
“I scored three goals in that match, and I didn’t notice at the time that it was what people call a perfect hat-trick: left foot, right foot, header. So, against Yugoslavia three days later, I did it again!
"The game was in Saint-Etienne, where I’d played for three years; 40,000 people had come to watch the French team and see me again, so I didn’t want to lose in front of my old fans. We were 1-0 down at half-time but came back to win 3-2. The hat-trick made me France’s all-time top scorer, ahead of Just Fontaine.”
The nine goals scored by Platini remained the most goals ever scored in European Championships by any player, despite all coming in the same tournament, up until 2021 when Cristiano Ronaldo took the helm with 14.
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