FACING THE AUDITORS
The love affair between Luis Fernandez and the French team lasted ten years, from 1982 to 1992. Sixty selections for the midfielder of Paris Saint-Germain, Matra Racing, then AS Cannes, punctuated some feats of arms, like his winning goal in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup against Brazil, or the title of European champion, the first in the history of French football, in 1984 in the Park Princes.
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Treaty of "Judas" by the Spaniards
It is a final unlike any other that lived Luis Fernandez, Spanish immigrant, on June 27, 1984 facing the selection of his country of origin. Born in Tarifa, Spain, on October 2, 1959, Luis Fernandez lost his father when he was six years old. "My mother then had the choice to go back to the south of Spain or to go to Lyon where my dad's two sisters lived," he explains to Lionel Rosso's microphone. Finally, the Fernandez family took the direction of Venissieux, in the suburbs of Lyon, where the young Luis grew up. "I joined this French company". So no question for the PSG player at the time to turn his back to France by donning the jersey Roja.
A choice that the Spaniards will try to make him regret on the field, during the final of the European Championship 1984. "It was hard during the game They ran behind me and kept insulting me" explains Luis Fernandez, whom his opponents were talking about "Judas". But he knew how to stay "strong in his head, because the one" who sang the Marseillaise proudly "had only one desire:" to win ".
"I never created a problem"
Author of six goals in Blue, Luis Fernandez was a member of the famous magic square, which he trained with Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse and Michel Platini. The least technical player of the quartet, the one who admits to "not knowing how to dribble", remains in his register and "puts himself at the service" of his teammates to make them shine. "I never created a problem in France team," says Luis Fernandez. "All I was asked to do, I did it".
Including, play at a post that is not his. Against Belgium at the Euro 84, or against Brazil in this legendary match at the World Cup 86, Michel Hidalgo or Henri Michel places the midfielder at the right back position. "No problem, I'm going there," says Luis Fernandez, who then measures the chance "to be in a group like this". "I would have been asked to go grab somebody on the ground, to get kicked out, I would have done it." So despite his Spanish origins, Luis Fernandez is categorical: "my jersey to me is the team of France". For the midfielder, naturalized French, it was natural to "defend to death" the shirt of the Blues.