VIDEO. Just Fontaine, the journey of a legendary striker in French football

A legend dies. Just Fontaine, one of the greatest players in French football, died at the age of 89 on Tuesday February 28. With 13 goals scored during his only participation in the World Cup in 1958, a record that still stands, he entered the pantheon of French and world football through the front door. A fast and efficient striker, he had left the footballing scene with 296 goals scored in 304 games.

A total that could have climbed much higher without the injuries that affected the native of Marrakech. Indeed, the career of Just Fontaine came to an abrupt end when the latter was only 28 years old. The fault of two fractures of the left leg in the space of six months, which ended up depriving the man who loved them so much of ground. After having experienced his finest hours in the Stade de Reims jersey, “Justo” had become a successful coach, whether with Paris-Saint-Germain or with the Moroccan national team in particular.

The trace left by the attacker, however, today goes further than the simple green rectangle, since it was he, with Eugène N’Jo Léa, who founded the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) in 1961. Entrepreneur , Just Fontaine had succeeded perfectly in his post-career and had gradually moved away from the world of football. Yet, more than sixty years after he last scored, he still embodied his goalscoring skills and inspired many more than a generation of footballers.

Video credit: “Just Fontaine, football in perpetuity”, by Christophe Vindis and Phillipe Garcia – Les Docs du Nord