Michel Platini scares off burglar at his French villa
Platini played 72 times for France and won the Ballon d'Or award for the world's top player three years in a row from 1983 to 1985.
He led France to the semi-finals of the 1982 and 1986 World Cup.
He was UEFA president from 2007 to 2016 and later became embroiled in a financial scandal involving then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter, but was acquitted in March this year.
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France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
Spain's pioneers 'knocking down walls' with run to Euro 2025 final
Experienced Barcelona defender Paredes was referring to the development of the women's game since Spain's triumph at the World Cup in 2023, when they defeated England 1-0 in the title decider. Her team now have the opportunity to add a first ever European crown to the World Cup, and in doing so allow Spain to hold the both the women's and men's continental titles at the same time. "Firm steps have been taken but I think we need to keep opening doors and normalising the situation," Paredes said in Basel, where Sunday's final will be played. "A lot of walls were knocked down with our victory" in 2023, she added. "Now more and more people look up to us, but we still have some way to go." Spain's victory over England in the World Cup final was quickly overshadowed by different headlines, after a forced kiss by the country's football federation chief Luis Rubiales on player Jenni Hermoso as the team prepared to lift the trophy. Rubiales was eventually fined 10,800 euros ($11,670) for sexual assault in February this year. Montse Tome replaced Jorge Vilda as coach in the aftermath of that tournament, and she believes her team -- led by reigning Ballon d'Or Aitana Bonmati -- would be deserving European Championship winners. "As a team we have been fighting and working so hard in so many areas and we have managed to get everyone to just focus on the football, which is what matters," she said. "All the questions now are focused on football and that shows you the changes we have achieved." Tome insisted that neither she nor her team were feeling the pressure despite the high stakes at St Jakob-Park, with Spain already having made history on their run to the final. It is their first ever appearance in the final of a women's senior European Championship, achieved after a narrow last-four victory against Germany -- a team they had never previously beaten. "I am not thinking about pressure, just about all the history we have made during the tournament," she said, insisting that getting to the final was Spain's main goal in Switzerland. "At the beginning our aim was to play six games and we are going to do that, but England are the current European champions and we will just try to compete with them and enjoy it." It will be the third meeting of the teams in 2025, with Spain and England managing one win apiece during the recent UEFA Nations League campaign.
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
England ready to meet challenge of 'fantastic' Spain in Euro 2025 final
"Tomorrow we play a game against the world champions who continue to prove themselves over and over in the way that they play football," Williamson told reporters at Basel's St Jakob-Park on the eve of the game. "They are a fantastic footballing team, they are the best at what they do, and we are very much aware of that but we think we are pretty good in some areas as well. "We need to be at our best to beat Spain but I think they will need to be at their best to beat us too. "I think there is a lot of respect between the two teams, and I'd be hesitant to say we are underdogs in this scenario." England are hoping to retain the European Championship title they won on home soil in 2022, but the match is also a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final, in which Spain triumphed 1-0 in Sydney. There is a growing rivalry between the nations, with England winning in extra time when they clashed in the quarter-finals at Euro 2022. The sides have also already faced each other twice this year in the UEFA Nations League, with England winning 1-0 at Wembley in February. Spain avenged that result by claiming a 2-1 victory in Barcelona at the beginning of last month, when Claudia Pina scored twice after Alessia Russo had given England the lead. "We have played each other a lot over the last couple of years and I think you always have learnings from the games we have played," said England coach Sarina Wiegman. "Tomorrow is a new situation where we have an opportunity to hopefully take out their strengths a bit and exploit some of their weaknesses too." England have been sweating on the fitness of Lauren James for the final after she came off with an ankle injury during the last-four win over Italy, but Wiegman indicated that the winger is in line to feature on Sunday. "We had 23 players on the pitch today and everyone came through," said the Dutch coach. Chloe Kelly and young striker Michelle Agyemang are pushing for starts after making impacts off the bench in the comeback wins against both Sweden and Italy in the last two rounds. Williamson, though, believes James has a lot to offer. "We have a team of talented players. Lauren brings something slightly different, obviously having her available is the best-case scenario," said the Arsenal centre-back.
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
Spain's resilient women footballers face England for European title
If the women's soccer players of Spain have gone from nobodies to title contenders in less than a decade, it hasn't come easy. The national team has had to fight for better coaching, decent travel conditions, and modern training facilities. It paid off with a World Cup title in 2023, the Nations League crown last year, and on Sunday they face England in the European Championship final. 'It has been a constant with the national team that we have had to fight for acceptable work conditions that would allow us to play at our best,' former Spain defender Marta Torrejón told The Associated Press by phone on Friday. Torrejón lived through the lean years, the time when playing for her country felt like, in her words, a 'waste of time.' And she knows from talking with Barcelona teammates who still play for their country how much things have improved. Torrejón retired from international soccer after the 2019 World Cup as Spain's then most-capped player with 90 appearances. She has since helped Barcelona win three Champions League titles and a slew of other trophies. She also played a part in one of the revolts Spain's women have staged to demand more from the men who run the game. After the 2015 World Cup, Torrejón and other players successfully pushed for the removal of coach Ignacio Quereda, who had run the team for nearly three decades, for his poor preparation ahead of the team's first appearance in the competition. Quereda was later accused by former players of verbal abuse, an allegation he denied. 'I enjoyed playing for the national team, but the preparation and attention to the player was minimum. It felt, to put it bluntly, like a waste of time,' Torrejón said. 'The level of practice and the level of physical training both plummeted compared to what we had (at Barcelona). It was like taking a step back. 'I am told that isn't the case now, and I am very glad to hear that.' Torrejón said she saw steps in the right direction under former Spain coach Jorge Vilda, who replaced Quereda, but felt there was still more untapped potential in the team when she retired. After Torrejón quit the team, some players announced in 2022 they would no longer play for Vilda unless he ran a more professional operation. He was backed by the federation. Some players returned to play for him, and the team made history by winning the 2023 World Cup. The celebrations were overshadowed by the behavior of then-federation president Luis Rubiales, who kissed a player on the lips without her consent during the awards ceremony in Sydney. Vilda backed Rubiales, but he was swept away with his boss when the players stood up to force change, from the removal of Rubiales to improving the travel, preparation and staffing of the team. Torrejón said she had heard from Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes, stalwarts of Spain and Barcelona, that things are better since Rubiales and Vilda left. New coach Montse Tomé has enhanced the training methods. Spain leads the way at the Euros for goals scored, ball possession, passing accuracy and clean sheets. In Spain's 1-0 semifinal win over Germany, Aitana Bonmatí leaned on the team's analysts, who informed her the opposing goalkeeper tended to leave her near post unprotected. The result was an exquisite winner from a tight angle. Spain midfielder Patri Guijarro agrees with Torrejón that the sustained investment Barcelona has provided for the past decade in the women's game has boosted the national team. 'Each and every day we work well in our clubs and I think that is reflected in the achievements of the clubs but also in the national team,' Guijarro said at Spain's camp in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday. Guijarro also credits the professionalization of Spain's women's league in 2021, which allowed players 'to dedicate ourselves fully to soccer.' Guijarro is one of 11 Barcelona players on Spain's 23-member squad. The Barcelona contingent includes Bonmatí and Putellas, who have split the last four Ballon d'Or awards between them. Former Barcelona official Xavier Vilajoana oversaw the women's team and the club's training academy from 2015-2020. During that time, the club dramatically increased its funding for women's soccer and built a training program for girls. Vilajoana said one critical decision was having the same coaches train the boys' and girls' teams. That way the Barcelona style was instilled in all the kids, and that ball-possession, short-passing and pressure became fundamentals of the women's teams as well. 'Let's not fool ourselves, we spent many years in a very sexist society and that was reflected in women's soccer. So clearly the change in the mentality of society has helped,' Vilajoana told the AP. 'But I also believe the style of play Barca has helped see women players in the same way (as the men).' In the background, Spain's strong feminist movement helped get the public behind the players. 'There were many of us players who gave it our all for the national team but weren't able to get this far,' Torrejón said. 'The one thing we knew is that we had talent. We just needed more support.'
