'Immense sadness': World Cup legend dead

1 year ago 64

No 1 could bushed Just Fontaine's World Cup scoring grounds during his lifetime.

His 13 goals successful a azygous tourney was acceptable with France successful 1958 and has withstood 16 World Cups since.

Fontaine's decease has been confirmed by his erstwhile nine Reims and the French football federation. He was 89.

The closest anyone has travel to Fontaine's tally was Gerd Müller, who scored 10 for West Germany successful 1970. Kylian Mbappé scored 8 astatine past year's World Cup.

Fontaine took six games to execute his feat astatine the World Cup successful Sweden, soon aft winning a French league and French Cup treble with Reims and starring the league with 34 goals.

"Justo is, and volition stay a fable of the French team," France manager Didier Deschamps said.

Entering the World Cup tournament, the Moroccan-born Fontaine was a little-known guardant extracurricular of the French league. Yet helium tormented opponents with his lightning velocity and finishing interaction — and adjacent with idiosyncratic else's boots. He had to get a brace of cleats aft damaging his ain successful practice.

Fontaine scored 4 goals successful the third-place crippled against West Germany but could person had 5 if helium had taken the punishment kick.

Fontaine acceptable the grounds erstwhile FIFA did not contiguous a circumstantial grant for the tournament's apical scorer — present called the Golden Boot.

Fontaine was modestly but symbolically rewarded.

"All I got was a firearm from a Swedish paper for being apical marksman," Fontaine told The Associated Press successful a 2006 interview.

In summation to his feats with the nationalist team, Fontaine won the French league rubric 4 times, the French Cup and reached the last of the 1959 European Cup during his nine vocation with USM Casablanca, Nice and Reims.

After helium retired, Fontaine co-founded France's players' national and served arsenic president for a fewer years. He besides concisely coached France's nationalist squad earlier stints with Luchon, Paris Saint-Germain, Toulouse and the Moroccan nationalist team.

"A French shot icon has passed, and Paris Saint-Germain would similar to wage tribute to the antheral who led them to the archetypal part immoderate 50 years ago," PSG said successful a statement, referring to Fontaine guiding the nine to the apical league aft a playoff triumph successful 1974.

The French shot federation said tributes to Fontaine volition instrumentality spot crossed France this play with a "minute of homage" that volition besides beryllium observed earlier French Cup games astatine Toulouse, Marseille and Nantes.

"The decease of Just Fontaine plunges French shot into heavy emotion and immense sadness," said Philippe Diallo, the French federation's interim president. "He wrote 1 of the astir beauteous pages successful the past of the French nationalist team."

Fontaine considered his World Cup grounds to beryllium retired of scope successful modern football.

"I don't deliberation it tin ever beryllium done," Fontaine told The AP successful 2006. "The idiosyncratic who wants to bushed maine has a monolithic task, doesn't he? He has to people 2 goals per crippled implicit 7 games."

Playing successful the days erstwhile nary substitutions were allowed, France mislaid 5-2 successful the semifinals against a Brazil squad featuring 17-year-old Pelé.

"As soon arsenic Pelé touched the shot you knew helium was wonderful," Fontaine said successful 2006. "He scored 3 against us. But it was lone erstwhile I watched the last (vs. Sweden) that I realised conscionable however bully helium was."

Fontaine, who scored successful each match, gave France an aboriginal pb with the archetypal extremity Brazil allowed successful the tournament. But astatine 1-1, France defender Robert Jonquet broke his leg. Amazingly, helium played connected against the genius of Pelé, but the French defence was considerably weakened.

The men's grounds for astir goals scored successful a World Cup vocation is 16 by Germany striker Miroslav Klose, who played successful 4 tournaments. Fontaine, who broke the grounds of 11 goals scored by Hungary striker Sándor Kocsis acceptable astatine the 1954 tournament, lone played astatine 1 World Cup.

Brazil striker Marta has scored 17 goals astatine the Women's World Cup, playing successful 5 tournaments.

Fontaine's meteoric emergence arsenic a scorer saw him get 200 goals successful 213 games. He scored 30 goals successful 21 games for France, wherever helium formed a superb concern with playmaker Raymond Kopa.

He described Kopa, who played for Real Madrid and past alongside him for Reims, arsenic having "a magical near foot" and "a last walk that was axenic genius." Kopa died successful 2017.

French President Emmanuel Macron praised the pair's interaction connected French football, and Reims Mayor Arnaud Robinet said helium wants a statue of Fontaine to beryllium built to basal alongside Kopa's extracurricular Reims' stadium. Reims hosts Ajaccio successful the French league connected Sunday.

Fontaine's vocation astatine the apical was efficaciously ended erstwhile helium suffered a horrendous limb fracture aft a mistimed tackle successful March 1960.

The dependable of Fontaine's snapping bones was truthful brutally loud, France goalkeeper Dominique Colonna claimed helium heard it from the different extremity of the pitch.

Fontaine came backmost from that, but his velocity was gone and helium retired conscionable abbreviated of his 29th birthday.

The wounded robbed him of playing astatine his highest — a frightening imaginable — and outgo him a imagination determination to Spain.

During his AP interrogation successful 2006, Fontaine was asked who was the champion finisher of each time.

"Fontaine," helium replied, arsenic swiftly arsenic helium erstwhile ran.

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