History Of The European Championship: 1984

Hosts France won their first European Championship in some style, scoring goals for fun and delighting the watching football world with their free-flowing serenity.

Captain Michel Platini of Juventus was France's inspiration and heartbeat throughout the fortnight of competition.

He scored nine goals from his forward midfield position and created numerous others for the players around him. He, along with the rest of that magical French midfield - Giresse, Tigana and Fernandez - was simply a joy to behold.

In their opening match against Denmark, France were fortunate to survive a few first-half scares before they took the lead 13 minutes into the second period. Platini, the European Footballer of the Year, blasted a shot past Qvist to send the Parc des Princes crowd into raptures.

The Danes threw on Jesper Olsen and it was he who was involved in an unsavoury incident with the French defender Amoros which resulted in the defender being sent off. France, though, held on to their one-goal advantage.

Against Belgium Platini showed his style by scoring a excellent hat-trick as France won 5-0, the same scoreline as the other Group A fixture that day between Yugoslavia and Denmark, with the Scandanavians coming through as winners.

In their final group match at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, France trailed 1-0 to a Sestic goal for Yugoslavia but, keeping calm, they came back with Platini turning on the style to score a hat-trick in a 17-minute spell after half-time.

The man from Joeuf scored with his left foot, his right foot and his head to take France through to the semi-finals as group winners.