Raymond Kopa

Raymond Kopa (Raymond Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a professional French football player. He has played for France national team and for Real Madrid.

Raymond Kopa
Raymond Kopa in 1963
Personal information
Full name Raymond Kopaszewski
Date of birth (1931-10-13)13 October 1931
Place of birth Nœux-les-Mines, France
Date of death 3 March 2017 (aged 85)
Place of death Angers, France
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder (retired)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1949-1951
1951-1956
1956-1959
1959-1967		 Angers
Stade Reims
Real Madrid
Stade Reims
National team
1952-1962 France
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

In 1970 he became the first football player to receive the Légion d'honneur, and in 2004, Pelé named him one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.

Early life

Kopa was born to a family of Polish immigrants in Nœux-les-Mines, France.[1]

Career

After finishing second in the French national youth football trials in 1949, Kopa began his professional career at the age of 17 with SCO Angers in Ligue 2 and was transferred two years later to Reims, with whom he won French championships in 1953 and 1955.

He won the 1953 Latin Cup with Stade de Reims, where they defeated AC Milan 3–0 in the final, and helped them reach the 1956 European Cup Final, which the team lost to Alfredo Di Stéfano's Real Madrid, 4–3.

Kopa was also 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.[2]

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.

Death

Kopa died in Angers, France on 3 March 2017, aged 85.[3]

Club career statistics

[4]

Club statistics League
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals
FranceLeague
1949/50AngersDivision 2307
1950/51308
1951/52Stade ReimsDivision 1338
1952/533313
1953/543111
1954/553111
1955/56305
SpainLeague
1956/57Real MadridLa Liga226
1957/58278
1958/593010
FranceLeague
1959/60Stade ReimsDivision 13614
1960/61305
1961/62302
1962/63341
1963/64255
1964/65Division 2293
1965/66273
1966/67Division 1333
CountryFrance 522114
Spain 7924
Total 601138

International career statistics
France national team
YearAppsGoals
195252
195363
195464
195564
195610
195700
195874
195940
196031
196130
196240
Total4518

References
  1. Braun, Didier. "L'Équipe de France de football, c'est l'histoire en raccourci d'un siècle d'immigration" (PDF). L'Équipe. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  2. Hanot, Gabriel. "Palmarès Ballon d'Or – 1958 – Raymond Kopa". www.francefootball.fr. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  3. Bouchez, Yann (3 March 2017). "Raymond Kopa, figure du football français, est mort". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  4. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Raymond Kopa". www.national-football-teams.com.

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