WORLD CUP ROSSONERI: JEAN‑PIERRE PAPIN

Integrating oneself as best as possible into a well-established, successful team is no easy feat. Doing it at national team level, then, is even more difficult. The 1980s were the first, hugely successful years in the history of the French national team, semi-finalists at the 1982 World Cup and later European Champions and Olympic gold medallists in 1984.

Such consistency of results had only one precedent, at the turn of the 1950s (third place at the 1958 World Cup) and 1960s (fourth place at the 1960 European Championship), and the period of the team coached by Michel enabled hopes of glory for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. A near-rookie was called up to complete the squad - his first career appearance had come in a friendly in February - fresh from a brilliant season in Belgium at Bruges.

With 21 league goals, Jean-Pierre Papin stood out as the most prolific foreign goalscorer in that season of the Belgian championship, where he was approached by second division French side Valenciennes after scoring his 15th goal of the season. Despite his very limited experience in the national team, Michel gambled on him to form an attacking duo, together with Dominique Rocheteau, for the opening match against Canada.

The Canadians, making their World Cup debut, gave the reigning European champions a hard time (coming close to scoring several times in the first half), and they only managed to break the deadlock with 11 minutes remaining. It was Papin who scored; his first for the national team (on his second appearance).

The Boulogne-sur-Mer native was the quickest of all to meet Stopyra's pass, beating an otherwise faultless Dolan in the box. The goal strengthened Papin's position in the transalpine ranks, with the Bruges striker also a starter in the next two matches: the draw with the USSR and the win against Hungary.

Papin was then not used in the three knockout matches (Italy in the Round of 16, Brazil in the Quarter-finals and West Germany in the Semi-finals), only returning to the pitch - and the goalsheet - in the 3rd place play-off win against Belgium. It would take six years, since that Mexican afternoon, to see Papin in an AC Milan shirt. Six years, strangely enough, would also have to pass to see France return to the final of an international tournament: the 1992 European Championship, a distant prelude to that much more rewarding 1998-2000 two-year spell for the transalpine outfit.

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