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Raymond Kopa

Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski;[2] 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three European Cups.

Raymond Kopa
Kopa in 1963
Personal information
Full name Raymond Kopa
Birth name Raymond Kopaszewski[1]
Date of birth (1931-10-13)13 October 1931[1]
Place of birth Nœux-les-Mines, France[1]
Date of death 3 March 2017(2017-03-03) (aged 85)
Place of death Angers, France
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1941–1949 Nœux-les-Mines
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1949–1951 Angers 60 (15)
1951–1956 Reims 158 (48)
1956–1959 Real Madrid 79 (24)
1959–1967 Reims 244 (36)
Total 541 (123)
International career
1952–1962 France 45 (18)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France
FIFA World Cup
Third place 1958
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Considered one of the greatest players of all-time,[3][4][5] Kopa was a forward who was quick, agile and known for his dribbling, playmaking, and prolific scoring.[6] In 1958, Kopa was awarded the Ballon d'Or. In 1970, he became the first football player to receive the Légion d'honneur. In 2004, Pelé named him one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.

Early life

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Kopa was born to a family of Polish immigrants.[7] His grandparents were originally from Kraków and migrated to Germany, where his parents were born. They then migrated to France after the First World War.[8]

His surname was shortened to Kopa from Kopaszewski while he was at school. He acquired French nationality at his majority in 1952.[8] At the age of 14, he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, father and brother by working in the coal mines of Nœux-les-Mines. During this time Kopa lost a finger in a mining accident.[2]

Personal life

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Kopa married Christiane, the sister of a teammate of his at Angers. After retiring from the game he launched his own sportswear brand, eventually settling in Corsica.[2] Kopa died in Angers on 3 March 2017, aged 85.[9]

Kopa was mentored by Paul Sinibaldi. Sinibaldi was the godfather to Kopa's son.[10]

Career

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Kopa with France in 1960

After finishing second in the French national youth football trials in 1949,[2] Kopa began his professional career at age 17 with Angers in Ligue 2 and was transferred two years later to Reims, with whom he won French championships in 1953 and 1955. He won the 1953 Latin Cup with Reims, where they defeated Milan 3–0 in the final, and helped them reach the 1956 European Cup Final, which the team lost to Alfredo Di Stéfano's Real Madrid, 4–3.[11]

Kopa had first attracted attention in Spain when he played for France against Spain in a match in Madrid in March 1955, after which the Spanish sports newspaper Marca nicknaming him "Little Napoleon".[2] Kopa was transferred to Real Madrid for the 1956–57 season, where he was soon joined by Ferenc Puskás. Despite playing as an inside right at Real Madrid rather than as the no. 10, his usual position, Kopa helped the club to three successive European cup victories and the Spanish league title in 1957 and 1958. Kopa was also the first French player to win the European Cup when Madrid defeated Fiorentina 2–0 in the 1957 final. He would go on to be European champion again in 1958 and 1959, the latter against former side Reims, where Just Fontaine was playing. In the 1959–60 season, Kopa returned to France to finish his career with Reims, where he won further Championnats in 1960 and 1962. In total, he scored 75 goals in 346 matches in France's top flight, and was awarded the Ballon d'Or by France Football in 1958.[12]

With the France national team, Kopa scored 18 goals in 45 matches between 1952 and 1962. He played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, scoring three goals as he led France to the semi-finals, where they succumbed to a strong Brazil team. The French team finished third in the tournament.[13]

In March 2004, Kopa was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.[14] In 2018, France Football's Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best young football player in the calendar year was named in Raymond's honor. The first recipient was fellow Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.[15]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[16]
Club Season League National cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Angers 1949–50 Division 2
1950–51 Division 2
Total 60 15
Reims 1951–52 Division 1 33 8
1952–53 Division 1 33 13
1953–54 Division 1 31 11
1954–55 Division 1 31 11
1955–56 Division 1 30 5
Total 158 48
Real Madrid 1956–57 La Liga 22 6 0 0 8 2 30 8
1957–58 La Liga 27 8 0 0 7 3 34 11
1958–59 La Liga 30 10 0 0 7 1 37 11
Total 79 24 0 0 22 6 101 30
Reims 1959–60 Division 1 36 14
1960–61 Division 1 30 5
1961–62 Division 1 30 2
1962–63 Division 1 34 1
1963–64 Division 1 25 5
1964–65 Division 2 29 3
1965–66 Division 2 27 3
1966–67 Division 1 33 3
Total 244 36
Career total 541 123

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[citation needed]
National team Year Apps Goals
France 1952 5 2
1953 6 3
1954 6 4
1955 6 4
1956 1 0
1957 0 0
1958 7 4
1959 4 0
1960 3 1
1961 3 0
1962 4 0
Total 45 18
Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kopa goal.
List of international goals scored by Raymond Kopa[17]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 11 November 1952 Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France   Northern Ireland 3–1 Friendly
2
3 14 May 1953 Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France   Wales 6–1 Friendly
4
5 20 September 1953 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg   Luxembourg 6–1 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 30 May 1954 Stade Heysel, Brussels, Belgium   Belgium 3–3 Friendly
7 19 June 1954 Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland   Mexico 3–2 1954 FIFA World Cup
8 11 November 1954 Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France   Belgium 2–2 Friendly
9
10 17 March 1955 Estadio Chamartín, Madrid, Spain   Spain 21 Friendly
11 15 May 1955 Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France   England 1–0 Friendly
12 9 October 1955 St. Jakob Stadium, Basel, Switzerland    Switzerland 2–1 Friendly
13 23 October 1955 Dinamo Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union   Soviet Union 2–2 Friendly
14 8 June 1958 Idrottsparken, Norrköping, Sweden   Paraguay 7–3 1958 FIFA World Cup
15 15 June 1958 Eyravallen, Örebro, Sweden   Scotland 2–1 1958 FIFA World Cup
16 26 June 1958 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden   West Germany 6–3 1958 FIFA World Cup
17 1 October 1958 Parc des Princes, Paris, France   Greece 7–1 UEFA Euro 1960
18 27 March 1960 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria   Austria 4–2 UEFA Euro 1960

Honours

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Reims

Real Madrid

France

Individual

Orders

Notes

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  1. ^ Shared with Duncan Edwards

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Raymond Kopa". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gaillard, William (4 February 2011). "Goals, not coal, for Kopa". uefa.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  3. ^ "The 50 Greatest Footballers of All Time". Sports Illustrated. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. ^ Carney, Jimmi (31 May 2011). "The 100 Best Footballers of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  5. ^ Ritchie, Calum (23 November 2023). "25 Greatest Players Of All Time (Ranked)". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  6. ^ The Greatest Offensive Midfielders of All-Time. xtratime.org
  7. ^ Braun, Didier. "L'Équipe de France de football, c'est l'histoire en raccourci d'un siècle d'immigration" (PDF). L'Équipe. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  8. ^ a b Boli, C; Grognet, F; Gastaut, Y (2010). Allez la France! football et immigration. Gallimard. ISBN 978-2070129638.
  9. ^ Bouchez, Yann (3 March 2017). "Raymond Kopa, figure du football français, est mort". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  10. ^ Philippe Rey-Gorez and Alexandre Audabram (2 April 2018). "Paul Sinibaldi, ancienne star du Stade de Reims, est mort" (in French). France Bleu. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. ^ "European Cup final results since 1956". Reuters. 23 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  12. ^ Hanot, Gabriel. "Palmarès Ballon d'Or – 1958 – Raymond Kopa". www.francefootball.fr. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  13. ^ France vs. West Germany, 1958 FIFA World Cup, archived from the original on 5 September 2015
  14. ^ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  15. ^ "Kylian Mbappé est le vainqueur du premier Trophée Kopa" [Kylian Mbappé is the winner of the first Kopa Trophy]. France Football (in French). 3 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  16. ^ Raymond Kopa at National-Football-Teams.com
  17. ^ "Raymond Kopa – national football team player".
  18. ^ "Stade de Reims 3–0 Milan". ceroacero.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  19. ^ "On this day, Real Madrid lifted club's second Latin Cup". RealMadrid.com. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Real Madrid 1–0 Benfica". ceroacero.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  21. ^ "France – Footballer of the Year".
  22. ^ "Matches of FIFA XI".
  23. ^ "ERIC BATTY’S WORLD XI – THE SIXTIES" Retrieved on 26 November 2015
  24. ^ World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time Retrieved on 28 November 2015
  25. ^ "Legends". Golden Foot. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  26. ^ "UEFA President's Award". UEFA.com. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  27. ^ a b "Décret du 6 avril 2007 portant promotion et nomination" [Decree of 6 April 2007 on promotion and appointment]. Journal Officiel de la République Française (in French). 2007 (84): 6583. 8 April 2007. PREX0710142D. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
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