Often considered one of leading players of his generation, Kopa was a free-role playmaker who was quick, agile and known for his love of dribbling. He was also a renowned playmaker, as well as a prolific scorer.
Born into a family of Polish immigrants, Kopa began his professional career at the age of 17 with SCO Angers in Ligue 2 and was transferred two years later to Stade de Reims, with whom he won French championships in 1953 and 1955. He helped Reims reach the first European Cup final in 1956, which the team lost to Alfredo Di Stéfano's Real Madrid, 4–3.
Kopa was transferred to Real Madrid the subsequent season, where he was soon joined by Ferenc Puskás. At Real Madrid, Kopa won the Spanish league in 1957 and 1958. Kopa also became the first French player to win the European Cup when Madrid defeated Fiorentina 2–0 in the 1957 final. He would go on to be European champion again in 1958 and 1959, the last against former side Stade de Reims, where Just Fontaine played.
In the 1959–60 season, Kopa returned to France to finish his career with Reims, where he won further Championnats in 1960 and 1962. In total, he scored 75 goals in 346 matches in France's top flight, and was given the Ballon d'or by France Football in 1958.With the France national football team, Kopa scored 18 goals in 45 games between 1952 and 1962. He played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, where the French team finished third, losing to the Brazilian team.
Kopa was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
Achievements
- French League: 1953, 1955, 1960 and 1962 with Stade Reims
- Spanish League: 1957 and 1958 with Real Madrid
- French second division: 1966 with Stade Reims
- European Cup: 1957, 1958 and 1959 with Real Madrid; runner-up 1956 with Stade Reims
- Latin Cup: 1953 with Stade Reims and 1957 with Real Madrid; runner-up 1955 with Stade Reims
- FIFA World Cup: third place 1958 with France
- Golden Ball: 1958
- Légion d'honneur: 30 November 1970 (first footballer to hold it)
I absolutely loved dribbling. Some people told me off for
it, saying that I held on to the ball for too long and that I slowed
the game down.
Raymond Kopa
The uniquely talented Raymond Kopa was blazing a trail for French football long before the likes of Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane came on the scene.
Standing
only 5’6, Kopa made up for a relative lack of stature with some
prodigious dribbling skills, and played an instrumental role in three of
Real Madrid’s first five victorious campaigns in Europe.
Yet
the pinnacle of his career arguably came at the 1958 FIFA World Cup
Sweden, where he was recognised as the player of the tournament, a not
inconsiderable achievement given the goalscoring feats of team-mate Just Fontaine and the exploits of an emerging teenager by the name of Pele.Born
in the northern French town of Nœux-les-Mines to Polish immigrants,
Raymond Kopaszewski – to give him his real name – endured a tough
upbringing. He honed his gritty determination and will to win in his
teenage years when he earned his keep by pushing coal-laden wagons in a
mine.
It was the loss of a finger in an
accident that prompted him to pursue a career in football, a sport he
had already showed a considerable talent for from the age of ten.
From coaldust to stardust In May 1949 he took part in the Young Footballer Competition, a national event open to budding professionals and followed closely by the country’s foremost coaches. Finishing second overall, he signed a contract with Angers shortly afterwards.
His
career would take off two years later when he bumped into Albert
Batteux, the legendary Stade de Reims coach, at a friendly match. “He
had a gift for assessing players’ abilities and fielding them in the
right positions,” said Kopa. “Without him, a lot of players would never
have been able to express their skills, starting with me.”To
make the most of his prodigy’s close dribbling skills, which were aided
by a low centre of gravity, Batteux deployed Kopa just behind the
strikers in a withdrawn No10 role that marked a departure from the
conventions of the time.
From coaldust to stardust In May 1949 he took part in the Young Footballer Competition, a national event open to budding professionals and followed closely by the country’s foremost coaches. Finishing second overall, he signed a contract with Angers shortly afterwards.
His
career would take off two years later when he bumped into Albert
Batteux, the legendary Stade de Reims coach, at a friendly match. “He
had a gift for assessing players’ abilities and fielding them in the
right positions,” said Kopa. “Without him, a lot of players would never
have been able to express their skills, starting with me.”To
make the most of his prodigy’s close dribbling skills, which were aided
by a low centre of gravity, Batteux deployed Kopa just behind the
strikers in a withdrawn No10 role that marked a departure from the
conventions of the time.
“I absolutely loved
dribbling,” commented Kopa. “Some people told me off for it, saying that
I held on to the ball for too long and that I slowed the game down. My
coaches always insisted that I stick to my style of play, though.”
Those bewildering dribbles invariably ended with
pinpoint passes to well-placed team-mates, who made the most of Kopa’s
gift for slowing the game down to find space for themselves or make a
run.
After joining Reims in 1951, Kopa quickly
became the orchestrator-in-chief of a brilliant team that took the
French championship by storm and lost in a seven-goal thriller to Real Madrid in the first European Champion Clubs’ Cup final in 1956.
Within
a few weeks of that memorable encounter, Kopa caused a sensation by
agreeing terms with the newly crowned European champions. “I was the
first French player to leave the country,” he later recalled. “At the
time a lot of people saw me as a traitor. It was just my misfortune to
be a pioneer.” 
It was during his time in Madrid that he acquired the nickname of Napoleon, teaming up with two living legends in Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas to conquer Europe and forge his own glittering reputation.“They
were three fantastic years,” said the fabled Frenchman. “For three
whole seasons we won the lot. We were also voted the team of the century
by the fans in 2000, the club’s centenary year. There was an incredible
atmosphere whenever we played, with 125,000 fans shaking their white
handkerchiefs. We didn’t have any sponsors and there were no games on
TV, so we had to play friendly matches across the world to keep the club
going. They really were different times back then. I won three
consecutive European Cups with Real, and in three years we only lost one
home match in all competitions.”
It was during his time in Madrid that he acquired the nickname of Napoleon, teaming up with two living legends in Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas to conquer Europe and forge his own glittering reputation.“They
were three fantastic years,” said the fabled Frenchman. “For three
whole seasons we won the lot. We were also voted the team of the century
by the fans in 2000, the club’s centenary year. There was an incredible
atmosphere whenever we played, with 125,000 fans shaking their white
handkerchiefs. We didn’t have any sponsors and there were no games on
TV, so we had to play friendly matches across the world to keep the club
going. They really were different times back then. I won three
consecutive European Cups with Real, and in three years we only lost one
home match in all competitions.”
The king of Sweden
Along
with five other new boys – Cesar Ruminski, Lazare Gianessi, Armand
Penverne, Thadee Cisowki and Joseph Ujlaki – Kopa made his France
debut in a 3-1 defeat of Germany on 5 October 1952. This new generation
would propel the French into the international elite, with the peerless
Kopa playing an integral part in that process over the next ten years.Though the 1954 FIFA World Cup Switzerland came too early for France’s
young bucks, who departed the competition at the end of the first
round, they were more than ready when the world’s finest came together
again four years later.“That tournament
prepared the ground for the 1958 World Cup,” explained Kopa. “Nobody was
expecting us to do well in Sweden, but we started off with a 7-3
victory over Paraguay, who were regarded as one of the three teams
tipped to win the competition. After losing to Yugoslavia and defeating
Scotland, we beat Northern Ireland before coming up against Brazil in
the semi-finals, where a new boy called Pele scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 win.
“We
were the two strongest teams at the time,” he continued. “And the
reason they won so easily was because our captain Robert Jonquet got
injured and we had to play with ten men (substitutes not being allowed
at the time).”
Les Bleus
claimed some consolation in their final game of the competition, when a
scintillating attacking display by Kopa inspired them to a 6-3 defeat of
Germany in the match for third place. Kopa’s finest hour in blue
actually came three years earlier, in a friendly against Spain in Madrid in March 1955, the French wizard astounding the 125,000 crowd with an amazing display. He
made what was to be his final appearance for his country in a 3-2
defeat to Hungary at the Stade Colombes in November 1962. Stationed in
an unfamiliar position on the right flank, a disgruntled Kopa was unable
to exhibit his usual flair, subsequently falling out with national
coaches Henri Guerin and George Verriest before deciding to end his
international career.
No regrets
His
club career continued for some time after. Returning to Reims following
his three seasons in Madrid, he won his fourth and last league title
with them in 1962. Powerless to prevent them dropping out of the top
flight two seasons later, he finally announced his retirement from the
professional game on 11 June 1967.A keen
amateur player up until the ripe old age of 70, he has maintained close
contact with the football world, and also found time to launch a sports
apparel brand and appear on radio and TV as an expert summariser. A
resident of Corsica since 2000, he sees his former team-mates on a
frequent basis, no one more so than former sidekick Just Fontaine.
Having now turned 80, he has no regrets about the path he took:
“Football changed my life. Leaving my job in the mine for the stadiums
made a man of me.” (fifa.com)
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