Now sitting at the head of UEFA’s top table as its president Michel Platini enjoyed one of the finest playing careers ever seen.
Some of his decisions as UEFA president have been confusing and irksome; such as his steadfast refusal to introduce goal-line technology and having a fifth official in Champions League games.
Nobody is quite sure why the fifth official is there, are they? It is a commentator’s favourite when a fifth official misses an obvious decision to say something along the lines of ‘what exactly are they there for?’.
Back to Platini, though, and behind Diego Maradona he was arguably the best player of the 1980s. Like Maradona, he led his country to success in a major international tournament.
His time at Juventus is legendary; three Ballon d’Ors between 1983 and 1985 and at the same time finishing as Serie A’s top scorer for three consecutive seasons.
The Frenchman was playing some brilliant football and, obviously, scoring lots of goals so here is collection of ten of the best.
Platini was a real free kick specialist and his technique is still quite remarkable. Requiring no run up whatsoever Platini was able to get enough power and direction from pretty much a standing position. Strong legs, that.