The default 'favourite' French kit is undoubtedly the one in which they won the 1984 European Championship in (blue with a single thick red and three thinner white horizontal stripes across the chest). I personally prefer this one, with its subtle tricolore stripes that follow through the shirts to the shorts. This image shows the Bordeaux midfielder Alain Giresse celebrating giving France a 3-1 lead against W. Germany in the 1982 semi-final. Only 22 minutes remained of extra-time, and still the French contrived to lose on penalties. As an Englishman, I understand how this works. My memory of watching this game as a child with my father is vivid, and the disillusion of how unjust the game can be stays with me (I am an Ipswich fan, so I have carried this burden in other ways). It remains, however, one of the greatest games I have ever seen, as the French captain Michel Platini said; 'That was my most beautiful game. What happened in those two hours
encapsulated all the sentiments of life itself. No film or play could
ever recapture so many contradictions and emotions. It was complete. So
strong. It was fabulous.'
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