Roger Piantoni facts for kids
Piantoni in 1970
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 26 December 1931 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Étain, France | ||||||||||||
| Date of death | 26 May 2018 (aged 86) | ||||||||||||
| Place of death | Ludres, France | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m | ||||||||||||
| Playing position | Inside-forward | ||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||
| 1946–1950 | US Piennes | ||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||
| 1950–1957 | Nancy | 239 | (91) | ||||||||||
| 1957–1964 | Reims | 198 | (145) | ||||||||||
| 1964–1966 | Nice | 48 | (20) | ||||||||||
| Total | 485 | (256) | |||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||
| 1952–1961 | France | 37 | (18) | ||||||||||
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Honours
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Roger Piantoni (born December 26, 1931 – died May 26, 2018) was a famous French football player. He played as an inside-forward and was a big star for the French national team in the late 1950s. He was known as Bout d'chou, which means "Cabbage Tip." Roger Piantoni was one of the best French players of his time. He scored 203 goals in Division 1, making him the sixth top scorer in the French Championship.
Contents
Roger Piantoni's Early Life
Roger Piantoni grew up in a mining town called La Mourière. This town is in Piennes, France. He played football there with Thadée Cisowski for a local club, US Piennes. In 1948, his youth team from Lorraine won the National Youth Cup. They beat a team from the South-East. Later, he also played against Raymond Kopaszewski, who was on a northern youth team. The next year, he joined the French Junior team. He played in the European championship, but he struggled because he wasn't fit enough.
Playing for Clubs
Playing for Nancy
Piantoni started his professional career at age 19. He joined FC Nancy for the 1950–1951 season. In his very first game, on August 27, 1950, he scored two goals. This was against RC Lens. In his first season, he became the top scorer in the championship with 27 goals. He even scored five goals in one game against Le Havre. He also scored four goals twice in other matches.
He played for FC Nancy for seven seasons. During this time, he scored 92 goals. His team did well in the Coupe de France. They reached the semi-finals in 1950–1951. In 1953, they made it to the finals but lost 2–1 to Lille. A few months later, FC Nancy had a friendly match against Real Madrid. They won 4–2 in Madrid! This game was special because it was Piantoni's official debut for Nancy. It was also Alfredo Di Stéfano's first game for Real Madrid.
FC Nancy later had money problems. In the 1956–1957 season, they were moved down to a lower division. The club had to sell its best players. Piantoni was sold to Stade de Reims for a large sum of money. Reims had just sold Raymond Kopa to Real Madrid.
Playing for Reims
At Stade de Reims, Piantoni joined other great players like Just Fontaine and Jean Vincent. They won the French championship together. In 1958, they quickly made fans forget about Raymond Kopa, who had left for Real Madrid. Piantoni scored four goals in one game against Sedan in March 1958. On May 1, Reims became French champions. This was Piantoni's first national trophy.
He scored 17 goals in 32 games in the 1957–1958 season. The next season, he scored 20 goals. He and Just Fontaine were a perfect pair in attack. They were a dominant force in French football during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Piantoni and some teammates also played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. Their coach, Albert Batteux, was also their club coach. They reached the semi-finals but lost to Brazil.
After the World Cup, Piantoni returned to Reims. The team struggled a bit that year, finishing fourth. But Piantoni still scored 20 goals in 30 matches. In Europe, Reims reached the European Cup final in 1959. They lost 2–0 to Real Madrid in Stuttgart.
The 1959–1960 season was amazing for Reims. They scored 109 goals in 38 matches! Only RC Paris could compete with them. Piantoni scored 18 goals that season.
The 1960–1961 season was not as good for Reims. They finished seven points behind AS Monaco. This was partly because Just Fontaine got a serious leg injury. This injury ended his career. Piantoni then became the team's top scorer and best playmaker. He was the country's best playmaker that season.
In an international match in 1959, Piantoni was injured by Nikola Kovatchev. He broke his knee. This injury needed several operations and affected the rest of his career. He had long periods where he couldn't play. In his last three seasons at Reims (1961–1964), he played only 37 league games. He still scored 23 goals. In 1961–1962, Reims won their sixth national title. Despite his injury problems, Piantoni scored 16 goals in just 18 matches.
He scored his last goal for Reims on May 3, 1964. It was in a home game they lost 4–1 to Valenciennes.
Playing for Nice
In 1964, Piantoni joined OGC Nice. They were in the second division. He played a full season there. Nice won the second division championship and moved up to the first division. After that season, Piantoni announced he was retiring from playing football.
Playing for France
Piantoni played his first game for the French national team on November 16, 1952. It was a friendly match against Ireland in Dublin. The game ended 1–1, and Piantoni scored France's goal.
He did not play in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. He was injured a few months before and couldn't recover in time.
Piantoni was chosen for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. He was one of the French players who helped the team reach the semi-finals. They lost to Pelé's Brazilian team 5–2. Piantoni played in the first five games and scored four goals. This included a goal in the semi-final against Brazil. He missed the game for third place against Germany because he had to have emergency surgery for appendicitis. France won that game 6–3.
He played his last game for France on September 28, 1961. It was a qualifying match for the 1962 FIFA World Cup against Finland. France won 5–1. Piantoni scored his last international goal from a free kick in the 79th minute.
From 1952 to 1961, Roger Piantoni played 37 matches for France. He scored 18 goals for his country.
After Football
After retiring from playing, Roger Piantoni became a coach. He coached the Carpentras club from 1967 to 1971. He also became a member of the Federal Council of the French Football Federation (FFF). He served there from 1970 to 1988.
He always stayed connected to the Lorraine region and the Nancy club. For several years, he also worked as a football commentator on TV.
Today, a section of the Stade Marcel Picot stadium is named after him. This is where AS Nancy-Lorraine plays.
Awards and Trophies
Reims
- Division 1 Champion: 1957–58, 1959–60, 1961–62
- Coupe de France Winner: 1957–58
- Coupe Mohamed V Winner: 1962
- European Cup Runner-up: 1958–59
France
- FIFA World Cup Third Place: 1958
Individual Awards
- Division 1 Top Scorer: 1950–51, 1960–61
See also
In Spanish: Roger Piantoni para niños
