S11E62 Euro 92 Throwback 2: The Underachievers - France and CIS - a podcast by Sff Podcast

It’s the second instalment of our Euro ’92 throwback series, where John Bleasdale looks at two sides who underperformed in the tournament – France and CIS, formerly known as Soviet Union and now Russia. He is joined by journalists Pierre-Etienne Minonzio of French newspaper L’Equippe and Russian correspondent for ESPN, Sky Sports and The Guardian amongst others Artur Petrosyan.

France arrived in Sweden as one of the pre-tournament favourites having won all eight of their qualifiers, but Pierre explains that part of it was down to luck rather than design. He goes into tremendous detail as to why France performed so poorly at Euro ’92, culminating in their exit at the hands of Denmark in the final group game. From an unfocussed group of players believing their path to the Final was mapped out, to an unfocussed manager in French legend Michel Platini, who announced pre-tournament he was leaving to focus on an ambassador role for the France ’98 World Cup, it was a recipe for their disastrous early exit in the group stages.

Soviet Union qualified for the Euros ahead of third place at the World Cup Italy, but the country split on 31 December 1991, casting doubt on the teams participation in the tournament. Artur explains how the Soviet president fought a case to allow the squad to compete under the guise of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). Artur then reveals that the squad were more motivated by money and not the pride of representing their country, which were a contribution to their performances. Despite getting draws against World Champions Germany and European Champions Netherlands, CIS crashed out of the tournament with a resounding 3-0 defeat by Scotland in the final game, and Artur admits they underestimated the Scots that night. He gives an insight into unhappy the Russian media were to the early exit, which to them was a surprise given they were beaten finalists in Euro ’88.

Music – “The Sesh” by PG Ciarletta (@PGCiarletta)

Intro - Paul Mitchell (@pwmcomms)

This podcast is sponsored by Supernova Terracewear, who are giving listeners of this podcast 10% off their next order. Visit www.supernovaterracewear.com and enter EURO92 in the discount code option when you checkout. We thank Supernova Terracewear for their continued support of the podcast.

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