III.
1983/84 season (Fall1983)
Preparatory Friendly match (Unofficial)-CA Penarol Montevideo (August 24, 1983, Toulouse)
France’s
new season that would culminate with the Euros started in August with the
traditional Gala Match for U.N.F.P.
In contrast to the previous season, where France
had played a National Team (Poland), they chose to revert to the tradition of
playing club sides in an unofficial capacity and this time away from Paris at
Toulouse.
It was reported that Hidalgo had originally wanted
Mexico, but there were scheduling conflicts.
The chosen opponent were Uruguayan side Peñarol Montevideo, the Copa
Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup defending Champions.
Just
like he had stressed after the match vs. Belgium, Hidalgo insisted that the
experimentation phase was over and there would be few newcomers from that point
on.
He
did however; include one newcomer that would have a profound effect. For the
goalkeeper position, he opted for Joel Bats of Auxerre.
He
was the fourth man to be tried since the World Cup (Ettori, Castaneda, Tempet).
During
the offseason many of Hidalgo’s Internationals had changed clubs. Le Roux,
Genghini and Daniel Bravo had joined AS Monaco, while Battiston and Tusseau had
joined Bordeaux.
Yannick
Stopyra felt that leaving the comfort of Sochaux and joining Rennes would be a
good challenge for his prospects.
Once
again Platini would be absent due to Coppa Italia commitments with Juventus.
Marius Tresor would once again be absent as well.
Bats
started in goal, Hidalgo stuck with his set defensive formation of Amoros,
Battiston as outside backs and Bossis and Le Roux in the center of defense.
Alain
Giresse, Tigana and Fernandez took their customary spots with Ferreri
deputizing for Platini.
Hidalgo
chose to experiment with Daniel Bravo in an unaccustomed position as the number
nine.
Ferreri
scored France’s winner right at the start of the match. France dominated the
match but were guilty of losing too many balls.
Bravo,
in particular, missed many chances and the experiment of using him, as the
center forward clearly did not work.
Bats
in his (unofficial) debut had little work to do. He stopped three shots in the
entire match (the first in the 55th minute).
It
had not been a vintage performance by France, but it was an improvement from
the previous year’s debacle.
Date:
August 24, 1983
Competition:
Friendly (Gala Match for U.N.F.P.)
Venue:
Toulouse-Stadium Municipal
Attendance: 10,438
France
1- Club Atlético Peñarol Montevideo (Uruguay) 0 (Jean-Marc Ferreri 1)
France:
Joel Bats, Patrick
Battiston, Yvon Le Roux, Maxime Bossis, Manuel Amoros, Alain
Giresse (Dominique Rocheteau 63rd), Luis Fernandez, Jean-Marc Ferreri, Jean Tigana, Daniel Bravo, Bruno Bellone
 |
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1951, August 30, 1983
(August
24, 1983, France 1- CA Peñarol Montevideo (Uruguay) 0)
|
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Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1951, August 30, 1983
(Jean-Marc
Ferreri and Daniel Bravo, August 24, 1983, France 1- CA Peñarol Montevideo
(Uruguay) 0)
|
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Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1951, August 30, 1983
(August
24, 1983, France 1- CA Peñarol Montevideo (Uruguay) 0)
|
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Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 42, September 1983
(August 24, 1983, France 1- CA Peñarol Montevideo (Uruguay) 0) |
Preparatory Friendly match Number 8-Denmark (September 7, 1983, Copenhagen)
France’s
first official friendly of this important season was against Denmark at
Copenhagen. A year ago a match against Denmark would not have appeared a
daunting task, but they had improved to such an extent that they were on verge
of qualifying for the Finals of the Euros at the expense of England. It was the
greatest Danish team in History led by the veteran Allan Simonsen that would be
known as ‘Danish Dynamite’ in the coming years.
England
Manager Bobby Robson would be in the stands to observe his opponents that he
would face in a couple of weeks (Denmark would win 1-0 at Wembley).
The
Danes were missing a couple of regulars for this match. Jesper Olsen was out,
along with the Anderlecht duo of Morten Olsen and Frank Arnesen.
For
France, Platini was back for the first time since the previous March (vs. USSR
1-1).
Tresor
was once again unavailable as was Thierry Tusseau.
Bruno Bellone and Jean-Marc Ferreri were retained
with the Under-21 squad for their qualifier vs. Sweden.
Joel
Bats made his Official debut for France in the goal. Hidalgo stuck with Amoros,
Battiston (as right back this time), Le Roux and Bossis in defense.
Hidalgo
was unable to select his ‘Carré Magique’ as Tigana was out through illness. Therefore Bernard
Genghini was selected to partner Platini, Giresse and Fernandez in midfield.
In a 4-4-2 formation with no wingers, Bravo and Rocheteau
were upfront.
This
match would turn out to be a wake up call for France, who until then had
appeared to be in a very good position to win the Euros after impressing in the
previous friendlies.
Young Danish sensation Michael Laudrup gave the
hosts the lead in the 20th minute, before Platini tied the match minutes later
(26th minute).
For the second half, Simonsen was moved to the
right side and was instrumental in Denmark’s go ahead goal in the 59th minute
from Keneth Brylle (though the goal was clearly offiside).
Michael Laudrup killed off the game with Denmark’s
third (75th minute).
France were generally good in midfield but poor in
defense.
Platini stated, “ it’s a match that we
could have won but we lost “.
The Bossis-Le Roux central defensive partnership
was put to the test like never before. Hidalgo even hinted that Tresor should
return in which case Bossis could play stopper.
Bossis responded that they should look at his
whole history with the National Team and not just one match to make a judgement.
He added that he respected Tresor, but that even Tresor himself had played bad
matches with France in the past.
Hidalgo criticized Le Roux as well for going a lot
to the wing to cover.
In all Hidalgo described the match as “good
lesson… ideal to face the future“.
The striker position was still troublesome and
Hidalgo stated, “if I had a great striker I would call up immeditaely“.
Bravo
had struggled once more as striker, but Hidalgo admitted
that he was playing out of position from his club and added that Bravo was
there to learn.
 |
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 45, December 1983
(Jean-Marc
Ferreri and Daniel Bravo)
|
This
would be France’s last defeat in an International match until May 2nd,
1985 when they lost (0-2) to Bulgaria in Sofia in a World Cup qualifier.
Despite
letting in three goals, Hidalgo had found in Bats the goalkeeper he was looking
for and he was to be France’s starting goalkeeper into the end of the decade.
Though
he did not play, this would be the last time that Amisse was called up and he
would disappear from contention.
Date:
September 7, 1983
Competition:
Friendly
Venue:
Copenhagen -Idrætsparken
Attendance: 17,500
Denmark
3-France 1 (Michael Laudrup 20, 75, Kenneth Brylle 59 / Michel Platini 26)
France:
Joel Bats, Patrick
Battiston, Yvon Le Roux, Maxime Bossis, Manuel Amoros, Alain
Giresse, Luis Fernandez, Michel Platini, Bernard
Genghini, Daniel Bravo, Dominique
Rocheteau
Note:
1-In
Bold, new caps.
 |
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 102, June 1984
(Team
captains Allan Simonsen and Michel Platini, September 7, 1983, Denmark 3-France
1)
|
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Photo
From: Le Livre d’or du Football 1984
(Patrick
Battiston, September 7, 1983, Denmark 3-France 1)
|
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Photo
From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(September
7, 1983, Denmark 3-France 1)
|
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Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1953, September 13, 1983
(September
7, 1983, Denmark 3-France 1)
|
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Photo
From: Le Livre d’or du Football 1984
(September
7, 1983, Denmark 3-France 1)
|
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Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 43, October 1983
(September
7, 1983, Denmark 3-France 1)
|
 |
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 43, October 1983
(September
7, 1983, Denmark 3-France 1)
|
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Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 51, June 1984
(Dominique
Rocheteau, September 7, 1983, Denmark 3-France 1)
|
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Photo
From: Onze, Hors Serie 18, 1984
(Bernard Genghini, September 7, 1983, Denmark
3-France 1) |
Preparatory Friendly match Number 9-Spain (October 5, 1983, Paris)
France’s
next friendly vs. Spain in Paris, would forever be remembered as the match
where Marius Tresor broke Roger Marche’s appearance record by earning his 64th
cap. He captained the side for this momentous occasion.
 |
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1956, October 4, 1983
(A
cartoon showing Marius Tresor about to break Roger Marche’s appearance record, Marche was known as 'Sanglier des Ardennes' (The Boar of the Ardenens))
|
As
always injuries forced Hidalgo to make modifications.
Yvon
Le Roux was the lone regular in defense partnering Tresor. Amoros, Bossis,
Battiston, Tusseau, Thouvenel were all injured or unavailable.
Hidalgo
was forced to call up uncapped Nantes pair of William Ayache and Michel Bibard,
as well as St Etienne’s uncapped defender Jean-Louis
Zanon.
Many believed Bossis had made himself unavailable
becuase he wanted to play as Libero and with Tresor that would not be possible.
Hidalgo denied this claim.
In addition, Giresse, Bravo and Toure were also
unavailable. Genghini was called up in haste to cover the withdrawals in
midfield. Jean-Claude Lemoult also received a rare call-up perhaps as a result.
Alain
Couriol received a recall after almost a year away.
France
played a 4-4-2 formation. The defense was inexperienced save Tresor.
Ayache
and Zanon were earning their first caps; Le Roux was only earning his third,
while Joel Bats in the net was also playing in his second Official match.
Paris
St Germain pair Fernandez and Lemoult were the two defensive midfielders with
Platini in the center and Ferreri on the right wing.
Rocheteau
and Bellone were upfront.
This
was match was played shortly after Spain and Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni
Goikoetxea had severely injured Diego Maradona in League play.
His
participation had been criticized as a result. The player nicknamed “the
butcher of Bilbao” was suspended in the League but not from the National Team.
There
were fears that Spain would be overly physical, but these fears turned out to
be unjustified.
France
would take the lead in the 60th minute through Rocheteau. It seemed
France were headed for a victory when in the 83rd minute, Bats
fouled Juan Señor in the box. Señor himself scored from the
spot.
As
far as the French Press, the team had played badly except for Rocheteau.
Hidalgo disagreed; his only regret was in not winning. He praised his players’
engagement in the match.
He
said, “I find the Press excessively severe. I personally saw an intense match
due to its tension and engagement”.
Some
also criticized him for offering a “gift’ to the 34 year old Tresor in
selecting in his record breaking match.
Due
to the key absences it would be to hard to assess France’s performance.
Incidentally, Spain would also be their opponent in the Final match of the
Euros in the summer (….that is another story).
Alain
Couriol came on in the last five minutes and played his last ever match for
France as he also disappeared from contention.
Likewise,
Tempet was called up for the last time and would not be recalled again. Hidalgo
appeared satisfied with his starter (Bats), but would have to search for
suitable backup in the net.
Lemoult
and Ayache played their last matches under Hidalgo and were left at the
disposal of the Olympics squad, along with the non-playing substitute Bibard.
Date:
October 5, 1983
Competition:
Friendly
Venue:
Paris -Parc des Princes
Attendance: 36,628
France
1-Spain 1 (Dominique Rocheteau 60 / Juan Señor 83 pen)
France:
Joel Bats, William
Ayache, Yvon Le Roux, Marius Tresor, Jean-Louis
Zanon, Jean-Marc Ferreri, Luis Fernandez, Michel
Platini (Bernard Genghini 75th), Jean-Claude Lemoult, Dominique Rocheteau, Bruno Bellone (Alain Couriol 85th)
Note:
1-In
Bold, new caps.
 |
Photo
From: Onze, Hors Serie 18, 1984
(Team
Captains Marius Tresor and Luis Arconada, October 5, 1983, France 1-Spain 1)
|
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Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1957, October 11, 1983
(October
5, 1983, France 1-Spain 1)
|
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Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1957, October 11, 1983
(October
5, 1983, France 1-Spain 1)
|
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Photo
From: Onze, Issue 95, November 1983
(Michel
Platini, October 5, 1983, France 1-Spain 1)
|
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Photo
From: Le Livre d’or du Football 1984
(Francisco
Carrasco and Marius Tresor, October 5, 1983, France 1-Spain 1)
|
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Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 44, November 1983
(Bruno
Bellone, October 5, 1983, France 1-Spain 1)
|
Preparatory Friendly match Number 10-Yugoslavia (November 12, 1983, Zagreb)
France’s
last friendly of 1983 was against Yugoslavia at Zagreb, the opponent they had
handily defeated back in April in Paris.
This
would of course be a different type of encounter as the match was on away soil
and the Yugoslavian squad would be stronger and more experienced as they were
in their final phase of qualifying for the Euros in their Group.
Platini
was injured and not released by Juventus, but Hidalgo did have Giresse back
along with Tigana and Fernandez. Daniel Bravo was drafted to be in the midfield
to make up the numbers as a false right wing, while Giresse took up the
organizing duties. Tigana was tasked with marking Safet Susic.
 |
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1962, November 15, 1983
(A
cartoon showing Paris St. Germain President Francis Borelli picking his players
Safet Susic and Luis Fernandez from the airport,November 12, 1983, Yugoslavia
0-France 0)
|
In
a 4-4-2 formation, Marius Tresor was back as Libero once more (for the last
time) with Le Roux as his partner in the center. This meant that Bossis would
play as a right back for this match with Amoros on the opposite side. Bossis
had been playing as Libero for club and country for eighteen months.
Upfront
Bellone and Rocheteau were once again selected like the match.
Hidalgo
had recalled RC Lens’ Daniel Xuereb after many years away after his success
with the Olympics squad (He would make an appearance in the second half). His
Lens teammate Phillipe Vercruysse was also called up.
France
were better in the first half but could not break through a stiff defense. The
match ended scoreless and perhaps the main satisfaction was the performance of
the defense. Hidalgo expressed as much and praised the fact that they had kept
a clean sheet away from home.
Hidalgo
had specially drilled into his defenders to hold onto the result.
France
had chances but could not take advantage as its strikers failed once more.
Hidalgo would excuse this by saying that most of the French strikers have been
injured recently, which had affected their form.
There
was clamor to recall Bordeaux’s Bernard Lacombe, since most strikers were unable
to impose themselves in the position.
This
would be Marius Tresor’s 65th and last match for France, as Hidalgo
would decide that Bossis was a better option at Libero than the ageing Tresor.
Marius
Tresor would retire from the game at the end of that season. This was also the
last time that Jean-Luc Ettori was called up by Hidalgo.
Daniel
Xuereb would also not be recalled again by Hidalgo, as he would stay with the
Olympics squad.
Date:
November 12, 1983
Competition:
Friendly
Venue:
Zagreb - Stadion Maksimir
Attendance: 15,000
Yugoslavia
0-France 0
France:
Joel Bats, Maxime
Bossis, Yvon Le Roux, Marius Tresor, Manuel Amoros, Daniel Bravo, Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse, Luis Fernandez, Dominique Rocheteau (Jean-Marc Ferreri 46th), Bruno Bellone (Daniel Xuereb 63rd)
 |
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1962, November 15, 1983
(November
12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1962, November 15, 1983
(November
12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1962, November 15, 1983
(November
12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1962, November 15, 1983
(November
12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: Le Livre d’or du Football 1984
(Jean
Tigana, November 12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 45, December 1983
(Zoran
Vujovic and Alain Giresse, November 12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 45, December 1983
(November
12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 51, June 1984
(Yugoslavia
squad, November 12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: Onze, Hors Serie 18, 1984
(Daniel
Xuereb, November 12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
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Photo
From: Onze, Issue 102, June 1984
(Luis
Fernandez and Safet Susic, November 12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
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Photo
From: Onze, Issue 102, June 1984
(November
12, 1983, Yugoslavia 0-France 0)
|
At
end of year, the squad spent 12 days altitude training at Font-Romeu with wives
and children present to get the players to bond.
Paris St Germaoin defender Jean-Marc Pilorget was
invited to this gathering as a future prospect, but would be the victim of a
car accidnet around Christmas and would
be out for nearly two seaons with his International future over.
Other surprise invitees included Rene Girard (not
selected since the World Cup), as well as his Bordeaux teammate Bernard
Lacombe.
The
19 players invited:
Goalkeepers:
Joel Bats (Association de la Jeunesse
Auxerroise)
Jean-Luc Ettori (Association
Sportive de Monaco)
Jean-Pierre
Tempet (Racing Club de Lens)
Defenders:
Manuel Amoros (Association Sportive de
Monaco)
Patrick Battiston (Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club)
Maxime Bossis (Football Club de Nantes)
Yvon Le Roux (Association Sportive de Monaco)
Midfielders:
Jean Tigana (Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club)
Alain Giresse (Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club)
Luis Fernandez (Paris Saint-Germain Football
Club)
Jean-Marc Ferreri (Association de la Jeunesse
Auxerroise)
Bernard
Genghini (Association Sportive de Monaco)
Rene
Girard (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
Strikers:
Jose
Toure (Football Club de Nantes)
Dominique Rocheteau (Paris Saint-Germain Football
Club)
Bruno Bellone (Association Sportive de
Monaco)
Daniel Bravo (Association Sportive de Monaco)
Bernard
Lacombe (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
Yannick Stopyra (Stade Rennais Football Club)
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