Bruno Bellone (born 14 March 1962) is a former French international footballer who played as a winger, and who earned 34 caps and scored two goals for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

from 1981 to 1988. One of the goals was in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

of the 1984 European Championships, where France defeated

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2–0 to win the title. He was also in France's

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and 1986 World Cup squads.

Career

It was the quarter-final match against Brazil in 1986 for which he will most be remembered, for two incidents. Firstly, as the end of extra-time approached, he had a clear opportunity to score the winning goal, as he rounded Brazil goalkeeper

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on the edge of the penalty area. He was blocked by Carlos as he went past him, thus knocking him off balance and preventing him to reach the ball in time to score. The referee did not give a foul. In the penalty shoot-out, Bellone took France's third kick. The ball hit the post and rebounded onto Carlos and then back into the goal. Despite Brazilian protests, the goal was allowed to stand. France manager Henri Michel, confronted after the game with the possibility that Bellone's penalty should not have stood, pointed to the Carlos incident in open play and said "There was a certain justice in that". The laws of football were later clarified in favour of the referee's decision.

Personal life

Bellone had to retire from football at the age of 28, following an ankle injury. He then suffered a series of personal setbacks, losing his savings in ill-fated investments. In 1998,

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety o ...

wrongly reported that he had died. Bellone was able to pay off his debts in 1999, after a gala match was organised in his honour in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

. Since 2007, he has been working as a sports technical advisor for the commune of Le Cannet. He is a father of four.

Honours

Monaco * Division: 1981–82 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and professio ...

: 1984–85 France *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

: 1984 * Artemio Franchi Cup: 1985

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellone, Bruno 1962 births Living people French people of Italian descent Sportspeople from Toulon French footballers Footballers from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French beach soccer players Association football forwards France international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship-winning players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players ES Cannet Rocheville players AS Monaco FC players AS Cannes players Montpellier HSC players