It is June 23, 1984, in Aix-en-Provence, in a magnificent hotel, Le Moulin de Vernègues. The French team will play the same evening in a historic, diabolical, exciting, suspenseful semi-final against Portugal, and it is in Marseille, a great land of football. France wins 3-2 after extra time. The most important man in this match is Jean-François Domergue, 61 goals in his different clubs (Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille and Caen) in 501 matches.
He scored two goals, one in the 24th minute of play, a direct free kick. Normally, it's Michel Platini who shoots him… Jean-François Domergue goes to see Michel and says to him: “I feel it. » Platini responds: « You go-y. » Bernard Lacombe comes to congratulate him by saying: “Think of your father. » And his second goal following a magnificent combination with Yvon Le Roux. He equalizes at 2-2.
Domergue scores when he needed to. He opens the scoring. Jordao equalizes and gives Portugal the advantage in the first overtime. Domergue equalized in the second overtime, and of course Michel Platini, 30 seconds from the end, scored the third goal after this incredible overflow from Jean Tigana. Jean-François Domergue is the hero of this match, and yet he was not supposed to play, he was a substitute. A combination of circumstances (injuries, suspensions) allowed him to play the majority of the competition.
He knew that this famous June 23 was the most important match of his life, a place in the final. And this day goes almost normally. Wake up, breakfast, he rooms with Philippe Bergeron, his accomplice from Bordeaux and Toulouse (great goalkeeper). After lunch, he wants to take a nap; impossible, the tension rises. He walks in the park and sees the physiotherapists giving him a relaxation massage. He may be too focused, too tense. Maybe he's afraid of doing something wrong. The snack always has the same habits, tea, toast, honey and lots of water. In the bus to go to the Vélodrome stadium, it is at the back on the right. In the locker room, he sits next to Yvon Le Roux, Maxime Bossis and Alain Giresse.
“I feel it. » Platini replies: “Go ahead”
He always has the same ceremonial before the warm-up, old t-shirt, tracksuit jacket, the underwear that makes him win, shorts, always the right sock first, then the left. Before the warm-up, he shines his shoes, and afterward, he shines them.
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We talked a lot about this match. When he scores the second goal, Bruno Bellone congratulates him first. We talked about Tigana, in this match, who did not want to go for penalties. We talked about Platini. We can also talk about his friend, brother and confidant, Alain Giresse, with whom he still communicates regularly today. He kept his jersey carefully. He exchanged his second jersey with Yvon Le Roux and gave it to his son Xavier. In fact, this match is a magnificent love story between the players, between the public and Michel Hidalgo. This team will remain one of the most resplendent in French football. France became European champions a few days later, beating Spain 2-0. Our positive memories are our best companions when we are down.
France
