We are just a few days away from the start of UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany, and the beginning of a competition in which eleven Paris Saint-Germain players will be dreaming of succeeding Italy and lifting the trophy on 14th July in Berlin. Let's take a look back at the history linking the Parisians to the European competition!
The Rouge et Bleu have put in some exceptional performances since 1984, when two players from the capital club won France's first ever title.
Midfielder Luis Fernandez (5 matches, 1 goal) and striker Dominique Rocheteau (2 matches) won the final at the Parc des Princes against Spain (2-0, 27th June 1984), while Parisian number ten Safet Susic was quickly eliminated, after three defeats for the Yugoslav national team. Luis Fernandez, one of the pillars of the French team for the 18 months prior, played an active part in Les Bleus' success: ’It's a great source of personal pride! It's given me greater maturity and self-confidence.'
There were no Parisians at the 1988 tournament and only one Paris Saint-Germain player at the finals in Sweden four years later: Christian Perez, who left for AS Monaco. With 8 consecutive victories in the qualifiers, coach Michel Platini's French team had high hopes, but the fallout was to be as great as Les Bleus' hopes. They were eliminated without glory after two draws against Sweden (1-1, 10th June) and England (0-0, 14th June), followed by a defeat by Denmark (1-2, 17th June), who went on to win the European Championship.
The 1996 edition marked the return of the Parisians, with five players in the French team: goalkeeper Bernard Lama (5 matches), defender Alain Roche (3 matches), Vincent Guérin (5 matches) and Youri Djorkaeff (5 matches, 1 goal, leaving for Inter Milan) in midfield, not forgetting Patrice Loko up front (5 matches, 1 goal). Les Bleus had a good run until they were eliminated in the semi-final against the Czech Republic after a penalty shoot-out (0-0, 5-6 pens). It was a bitter defeat for Bernard Lama: ‘It's disappointing to have missed out on the final. Mentally, we already had our minds on the final.'
In 2000, when Les Bleus won the tournament in the Netherlands and Belgium, Bernard Lama (1 match) was Fabien Barthez's number 2, a role he accepted philosophically. He only played one match, against the Netherlands, in which nothing was at stake.
Four years later, no Parisian was in the French squad for EURO 2004. The only hope for the Rouge et Bleu was Pedro Miguel Pauleta. The Portuguese striker was dreaming of a first title for Portugal, who were playing at home. But the national team's top scorer (47 goals) failed to score in 5 matches, until the final where they lost to Greece (0-1, 4th June 2004). 'It's not normal for me not to score for five matches, but football doesn't always have an explanation...’.
In 2012, after an edition without a Parisian player, Thiago Motta and Salvatore Sirigu for Italy, as well as Blaise Matuidi and Jérémy Menez with the French team, took part in the competition. Blaise Matuidi, called up at the last minute, suffered a thigh injury just before the start of the EURO and was left on the substitutes' bench. Jérémy Menez (3 matches, 1 goal) was one of the rare performers in the French team with a goal against Ukraine in the group game (2-0 victory on 15th June 2012) and remained in the starting line-up until the quarter-final elimination against Spain, who went on to win the tournament.
EURO 2012 was Thiago Motta's first major international tournament with Italy (5 matches, 0 goals). Unfortunately, in the final, the midfielder was injured a few minutes after coming on and had to leave his team-mates with 10 men against 11. Italy lost 4-0 to world champions Spain on 1st July 2012. Salvatore Sirigu, number 2 to Gianluigi Buffon, was not given the opportunity to come on.
The 2016 edition in France confirmed the return of the Parisians to the EURO, with four Rouge et Bleu players: Blaise Matuidi (France), Salvatore Sirigu and Thiago Motta (Italy) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden). The Swedish giant was to have a difficult tournament, with no goals in 3 matches, a draw and two defeats with Sweden.
Thiago Motta, with the number 10 on his back, took part in his last major tournament with the Italian national team. A frequent substitute in the Nazionale's first four matches, he sat out the quarter-final loss to Germany (1-1, 5-6 pens, 2nd July 2016) due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Salvatore Sirigu once again experienced the competition from the substitutes' bench.
The surprise package of that year's EURO was Blaise Matuidi, an indisputable starter with Les Bleus (7 appearances, 1 assist) who was beaten in the final by Portugal (0-1, aet, on 10th July 2016). Very disappointed, the Paris midfielder broke down in tears after this cruel defeat: ‘When you lose a final like that, you can only have regrets. But we managed to bring the French people together, to give them joy and happiness, and we can be proud of that.’
For the 2020 edition - played in 2021 - 6 Parisian players (Alessandro Florenzi and Marco Verratti with Italy, Pablo Sarabia with Spain, Danilo Pereira with Portugal and Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappé in the tricolore shirt) took part in the competition won by Gianluigi Donnarruma's Italy, voted player of the EURO before joining Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite finishing top of a tough group with Germany and Portugal, Les Bleus lost out to Switzerland in the Round of 16 (3-3, 4-5 on penalties), with Kylian Mbappé missing the decisive penalty. A tournament to forget, just like for Danilo Pereira's Portugal, eliminated at the same stage of the competition by Belgium (0-1).
However, Paris Saint-Germain were well represented in the semi-final between Spain and Italy. Pablo Sarabia, who started for La Roja and scored and set up two goals against Slovakia in the group stage (5-0, 23rd June 2021), scored again in the Round of 16 against Croatia (5-3, aet) five days later. Injured, he watched La Roja lose to Italy (1-1, 2-4 on penalties, 6th July 2021) in the semi-final.
It was the Italy of Marco Verratti (5 matches played) and Alessandro Florenzi (2 matches) who enabled the Parisians to finally find a successor to the Bleus of 1984, after the win in the final against England (1-1, 3-2 on penalties, 6th July 2021) at Wembley.
The Paris midfielder, who had been injured at the start of the tournament, was decisive in Italy's equaliser in the final, with a header that hit the upright and followed up victoriously by Leonardo Bonucci in the second half. In the penalty shoot-out, Gianluigi Donnarumma was impressive, making two decisive saves from Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka.
Now it's time for the 2024 edition, with our Parisians dreaming of final victory in a French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian or Slovakian shirt... We'll find out on 14th July in Berlin.
