Bernard Lacombe

Berbard Lacombe (2012)

Bernard Lacombe (born August 15, 1952 in Lyon ) is a former French football player .

Club career

The center forward began his career in 1969 at Olympique Lyon , where he played in a team with Raymond Domenech and Aimé Jacquet , who also became his coach in 1976, among others . In 1973 Lacombe won his first title ( French Cup Winner ) and made his debut in the French national team .

After a year-long stint at AS Saint-Étienne , he moved to Girondins de Bordeaux in 1979 , where he stayed until the end of his career ( 1987 ) and had his most successful period; there he was three times French champion (1984, 1985, 1987) and twice cup winners (1986, 1987). In total, Lacombe played 497 games in Division 1 and scored 255 goals, making him the second best goalscorer of all time in France . In 1972/73 and 1985/85 he was the second best league shooter in France.

National player

Bernard Lacombe played 38 international matches in the Équipe Tricolore between September 1973 and June 1984 , scoring 12 goals. He had his first major international appearance at the Football World Cup in Argentina in 1978 , where he made his mark in the history books in the first game: In the first group game against the favored Italians , he scored 1-0 for France in the first minute of the game . It was the first goal of the tournament after the opening game between Germany and Poland the day before had ended 0-0. The game was lost 1: 2 in the end and France was eliminated as third in the group after the preliminary round.

The 1982 World Cup in Spain and the 1984 European Football Championship in their own country were much more successful for Lacombe . In Spain, his team was eliminated on penalties in the dramatic semi-finals in Seville against Germany and finished fourth after a 2-3 defeat by Poland. In 1984 Les Bleus became European champions.

Life after the active time

Today, Bernard Lacombe lives again in his hometown and after having worked as a coach at Olympique Lyon for a few years, the club made him the official adviser to the Executive Committee. He is considered one of the fathers of Olympique Lyon's rise in the 21st century.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Data on footballdatabase.eu , accessed April 18, 2012
2. ↑ Report on the EM 1984 on morgenpost.de , accessed on April 18, 2012
3. ↑ Trainer data sheet on transfermarkt.de , accessed on April 18, 2012