Michel Hidalgo, Prince Charming of French football
Yesterday, France lost one of its most famous team managers. A discreet and quiet force, but a force indeed. Michel Hidalgo, who passed away at 84, has been master of « Les Bleus » from 1976 to 1984. He will go down in history as the first one to have won a title with the French national team, the European Championship played at home in 1984. And most of all he will remain French football Prince Charming.
In the mid seventies, the French national team is a kind of Sleeping Beauty, dozing after decades of defeats and disillusions. With his light-blue eyes, his feeling for words well written and a genuine passion for attacking football, Michel Hidalgo is a breath of fresh air for disenchanted French fans. Under his direction, a new generation of players blossoms, starting with Michel Platini, the diamond in the rough of pre-« Zizou » period. Platini, will become « Les Bleus » superstar and Hidalgo will be smart enough to build his team around him. And around a « Carré magique » of midfielders named Tigana, Giresse, Genghini and then Fernandez. Their French flair will drive the team to its cruellest but incredibly romantic defeat, one 1982 summer night in Sevilla, Spain. Beaten by the German national team after leading the game 3–1, Hidalgo and his boys will make of this nightmare — losing a World Cup semi-final with a victory close at hand — a driving force.
Their time will finally come in 1984. Another summer night, but in Paris. France and Spain are the last teams standing of the European Championship, an event where Platini shows his class and flies with his teammates high above the stratosphere. Hidalgo knows how to deal with his talented players and listens to them when it’s needed. But he remains the gaffer, a well-respected and benevolent gaffer. When the final whistle blows on the Parc des Princes lawn, this time, the French national team grabs at last the first trophy of its history. Spain is defeated 2–0 and Michel Hidalgo is lifted up in the air by his players. The team manager, who has directed them for the last time and retires at the peak of his career, cries hard tears…
« Now cracks a noble heart. — Goodnight sweet prince, may the angels sing you to sleep.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet.
