French football legend

Born: October 13, 1931;

Died: March 3, 2017

RAYMOND Kopa, who has died aged 85, was one of the first superstars of the game, when the European Cup began in the mid-1950s. Nicknamed “the Little Napoleon” the midfielder was the guiding genius behind the rise of Stade Reims and played a major role in France's run to third place in the 1958 World Cup.

He was born in the mining town of Noeux-Les-Mines, the grandson of a Polish immigrant and like his grandfather and father, he left school to go into the coal mines as a 14-year-old, losing a finger in an accident. He would later shorten his birth name to Kopa, and, it was as Raymond Kopa that he became famous.

His first club was the local colliery team, as a 17-year-old. However, in 1949 he was persuaded to join the French National Academy trials, which was a nationwide skills test. He finished second, hoped to join one of the big northern French clubs, Lens or Lille, but, instead found himself with Second Division Angers, in the west of the country.

While at Angers he met his future wife Christiane, prior to his transfer to Reims in 1951. He helped them win the Latin Cup – a competition for the winners of the French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish Leagues - in 1953, beating AC Milan in the final and, when the European Cup began in 1955, Reims.

They disposed of Danish champions AGF Aarhus 4-2 in the first round, beat the Hungarians of MTK Budapest 8-6 in the quarter-finals then faced Hibs in the semi-finals. Hibs, by this time, knew all about how important Kopa was to the French side and Scottish internationalist John Grant was highly praised for the marking job he did on him in the first leg in Paris.

Reims still won 2-0 and, two weeks later, on 18 April, 1956, at Easter Road, Kopa showed just how good he was with a superb solo run to set-up the only goal of the game as the French side secured a 3-0 aggregate win.

The final was in Paris, but, not even Kopa could thwart Real Madrid, who won 4-3. However, so well had he played, Real signed him and he featured in the Spanish club's European Cup-winning sides of 1957, 1958 and 1959. He then returned to Reims, to play out his career prior to retiring in 1967.

In 1958 he was the mainstay of France's run to third in the World Cup in Sweden, with Kopa being named in FIFA's Team of the Tournament and winning the Ballon d'Or as World Footballer of the Year, that same year.

In all, he played over 700 games in his career, including 45 internationals for France. Many football historians rate Kopa as the first on the modern number tens, playing “in the hole” between midfield and striker.

After football he formed and ran his own Kopa sportswear company. He retired, to Corsica, but spent his winters in Angers, where he died. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.