📍Jœuf, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France
1955 – 1972“Michel Platini was born in June 1955 in Jœuf, a steel-making town in the valley of the Orne in Lorraine, in north-eastern France, a place so full of Italian immigrant families that it was nicknamed Little Italy. His grandfather, Francesco, had come from Piedmont after the First World War, and the family ran a café in the town, the Café des Sportifs. His father, Aldo, was a mathematics teacher and a fine amateur footballer who later became a director at AS Nancy, and his mother, Anna, also came from an Italian family. Michel learned the game in the streets of Jœuf, practising tirelessly in a cul-de-sac near the café, and listening to the talk of football among the steelworkers who drank there. His father coached him and taught him to think about the game, and he spent hours perfecting free kicks, curling the ball around rows of chairs. He was slight and not very fast, but he had extraordinary vision and touch. In 1966 he joined AS Jœuf, the local club, and at sixteen he impressed in a youth tournament against FC Metz. Metz invited him for a trial, but he fainted during a breathing test, and the club doctor said his lungs and heart were too weak. Undeterred, in 1972 he joined AS Nancy, his father's club. He went on to win three Ballon d'Or awards in a row, the European Championship with France in 1984, and the European Cup with Juventus. Jœuf has named its stadium after him.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today