Just as the debate exist about who the best No.10 was for Les Bleus, that very enigma rages on when it comes to which of Juve’s two Frenchmen best wore the Bianconeri colors.
June 21 is Michel Platini’s birthday and within the next 48 hours, Zinedine Zidane will also be celebrating becoming one year older.
Not only do these two former France stars (almost) share a birthday, but they also form the fabric of Serie A and Juventus history, which brings us on to the eternal debate. Who was the best?
Well, it’s almost impossible, and unfair, to compare players from a different era. Was Pele better than Diego Maradona? Is Gianluigi Buffon Italy’s best ever goal keeper or should that accolade go to Dino Zoff?
It can be debated for hours, days, months and even years without ever really coming to a satisfying conclusion.
But that doesn’t mean we won’t try.
Platini arrived in Turin in 1982 from French club Saint Etienne for almost next to nothing after his contract had expired with Les Verts.
The Juventus side was already packed full of Italy internationals, fresh from winning the World Cup in Spain, which made his introduction into the side quite a difficult one.
But, despite a rocky start to his Italian adventure, Platini would go on to become one of the most decorated players in Serie A history.
Regarded as one of the early ‘free-kick specialists’, during his five-year spell with the Bianconeri the France international won the Scudetto on two ocassions (1984 and 1986), the European Cup Winners Cup and European Super Cup (1984), the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup (1985) as well as finishing the league’s top scorer for three consecutive seasons between 1982 and 1985.
His personal triumphs included three European Footballer of the Year awards and was twice voted World Soccer magazine’s Player of the Year.
So what made him so great?
“Michel was one of those great players who saw fitness work as being a bit superficial. He used to say, ‘We’re not going to compete in the 5,000 metres at the Olympics, we have to play with our feet’,” once said legendary coach Giovanni Trapattoni
Platini did not have incredible pace or strength, nor was he renowned for being a great dribbler but he had a superb range of passing that would make any ‘trequartista’ green with envy, coupled with the finishing prowess most strikers would give up their right arm for.
He had a sixth sense that would allow him to find time and space in between opponents’ midfield and centre-backs, starting a move that would often finish at his feet and into the back of the net.
With a calmness and composure, which made him stand out among the fiery Latin temperaments in Italy, Platini scored 68 goals in 147 domestic appearance for Juve. Not such a bad haul in the days when Serie A defences were as brutal as they were efficient.
Zidane, however, was a different beast.
He left Bordeaux in 1996 and joined the Turin side just after they had won the Champions League. It wasn’t his goals that made him an outstanding footballer, rather his technical ability which blew his teammates away.
“He is a special player. He creates space where there is none. No matter where he gets the ball or how it comes to him, he can get out of trouble. His imagination and his technique are amazing,” former Juventus teammate Edgar Davids said.
His medal haul was not to be sniffed at either whilst with the Bianconeri.
He won the title in his first season and followed it up with a second success a year later. He also helped Juve into two Champions League finals, though they unfortunately lost both against Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid.
In 1998, he won FIFA World Player of the Year as well as the Ballon D’Or and was also crowned Serie A Foreign Player of the Year on two occasions.
As much as it is a cliche, seeing was the only way to believe the genius that was Zidane, as words and language are just too limiting.
The Frenchman was the complete footballer. His touch and technique was unrivaled to the point where most kids these days will be taught ‘The Zidane’, a pirouette-style move which has been named after him.
He could control the ball within the tightest of spaces, dribble his way through a sea of legs and send over an inch perfect pass at any distance across the pitch.
Playing usually behind the strikers, he still managed 24 goals in 151 Serie A outings.
Sold by Juventus for a world record fee to Real Madrid for €75 million he wasn’t, however, without his failings.
He earned a disciplinary record that would make a South American centre-back jealous and throughout his career was sent off an incredible 14 times, the most famous of which was against Italy during the 2006 World Cup final.
Genius or flawed genius? Perhaps a bit of both.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/zAjWi663kXc[/youtube]
If you were to ask this writer which player he would pick in his starting lineup, he would probably choose Platini.
Not only did the current UEFA president have the technical ability but his record of scoring goals would tip the balance over Zidane.
Football is about hitting the back of the net, and the latter just didn’t do that enough when comparing him to Platini who was, to coin a phrase from boxing, the ‘Real Deal’.
And then, Zizou, why oh why with those headbutts…?
Not even close. Forza PLATINI.
Zizuo all day every day, Zidane was magician
Platini by a country mile, same technique, better passing and accuracy better goal scoring more trophies and if i’m not mistake longer with Juve, can’t even compare really.
NO doubt that the Platini Was the Great Footballer But was Zidane also a Maestro and Magician. And its not an encourage able Habit to Compare two football giants of Diff Era each other.
Yeah I don’t remember Platini leading France to a World Cup.