changes during the interval, and in the 54th minute, Yvon Le Roux was booked for fouling Santillana. Three minutes later, France took the lead. The referee awarded a free kick after it appeared that Lacombe had been fouled by Salva on the edge of the Spain penalty area. Platini's low shot curved around the wall, Arconada fumbled it and ended up pushing it into his own net, to make it 1–0 to France. Salva was then forced to make a clearance from Giresse before Arconda saved Lacombe's volley. Giresse's strike was wide after a run from Tigana in which he beat three Spain defenders. With five minutes of the match remaining, Le Roux tripped Sarabia and was sent off after being awarded a second yellow card, reducing France to ten players and becoming the first player ever to be dismissed in a European Championship final. Seconds into stoppage time, Tigana's pass allowed Bellone to run through and chip the ball over Arconada as he ran off his line. The match ended moments later with France winning 2–0 to claim their first international football title. Details Post-match France's Giresse, Tigana and Platini, were named in the UEFA team of the tournament, but no Spain player was selected. , Platini's nine goals remains the record for the most scored during the tournament finals. He had won the 1983 Ballon d'Or, but retained it at the 1984 ceremony before winning it a third time in 1985. Platini was awarded the European Championship trophy by Jacques Chirac. The France manager Michel Hidalgo later suggested that his side's success was "a triumph for attacking football after years of defensive attitudes". Platini said "It was a great moment for French football and for French sport as a whole... We were superior to everybody and expressed ourselves on the pitch." British sports commentator John Motson described Platini as "unbelievable... He was playing teams on his own. He was out of this world, a superstar. No team was able to contain him." French international footballer Emmanuel Petit later said "It was probably the most beautiful French team to watch in history." In the next international tournament, the 1986 FIFA World Cup, France were beaten by West Germany in the semi-finals, but secured third place with a 4–2 victory in the play-off over Belgium, the side which had knocked Spain out in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals. References