France's Euro 1984-winning coach Michel Hidalgo dies
The coach who guided France to its first ever major international success, Michel Hidalgo, died on Thursday.
Published : Mar 26, 2020 22:17 IST
Michel Hidalgo, France's Euro 1984-winning coach, has died aged 87. Hidalgo spent eight years in charge of Les Bleus after previously working as assistant, and he presided over their first ever major title success before stepping aside for Henri Michel.
Following Hidalgo's death, which was confirmed to France Info by his family, a post from the official Twitter account of the FIFA World Cup read: "France has lost one of its greatest figures.
"Michel Hidalgo was the brains behind the exhilarating side that reached the WorldCup semifinals in 1982 and won Euro 1984. RIP and 'merci' for the memories, Michel."
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France hosted Euro 1984, sailing through its group thanks to wins over Denmark, Belgium and Yugoslavia, before then seeing off Portugal in the semifinals.
Second-half goals from Michel Platini and Bruno Bellone secured France a 2-0 win over Spain at the Parc des Princes in the final, as Les Bleus lifted a major international trophy for the first time.
Two years prior to that success, Hidalgo took France to the semifinals of the World Cup, where it was beaten on penalties by West Germany after a 3-3 draw.
As a player Hidalgo represented Le Havre, Reims and Monaco, where he featured for nine years and also spent the early part of his coaching career.
Hidalgo's most recent job in top-level football was with Marseille, where he was a popular director of football for five years until 1991, going on to work as a pundit.