Michel Platini

Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, and came seventh in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. In recognition of his achievements, he was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1985 and became an Officier in 1998. As the president of UEFA in 2015 he was banned from involvement in football under FIFA's organisation, over ethics violations. The ban will last until 2023.

During his career, Platini played for the clubs Nancy, Saint-Étienne, and Juventus. Nicknamed Le Roi (The King) for his ability and leadership, he was a prolific goalscorer; he won the Serie A capocannoniere award three consecutive times between 1983 and 1985, and was the top scorer of Juventus's victorious 1984–85 European Cup campaign. Platini was a key player of the France national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top scorer and best player, and reached the semi-finals of the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. Together with midfielders Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana, he formed the carré magique (magic square) of the French team in the 1980s. Platini was his country's record goalscorer until 2007, and held the record for most goals (9) scored in the European Championship until being surpassed by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021, despite only appearing in the victorious 1984 edition.

Following his retirement as a player, Platini was the France national team coach for four years, and was the co-organizer of the 1998 World Cup in France. In 2007, he became the first former player to be elected as the president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). He also held the positions of chairman of FIFA's Technical and Development Committee and vice-president of the French Football Federation.

Born in Jœuf, in the Lorraine region, Platini is the son of Aldo and Anna (née Piccinelli), both of Italian ancestry. Anna's family has its roots in the province of Belluno, while Aldo's father, Francesco Platini, was an immigrant from Agrate Conturbia, in the province of Novara, and settled in France shortly after the end of the First World War. Aldo was a professional footballer and a long-time director for AS Nancy, the club where Michel started his professional career.

After performing poorly in the final of a 1969 young footballers' competition, Michel Platini attracted attention at 16 years of age in a Coupe Gambardella tournament match with an impressive display for Jœuf juniors against a Metz junior side. Platini was called up for a trial with Metz, but missed out on the opportunity due to injury, and was not immediately invited back after the Metz coach moved to another club. He returned to regional league football with Jœuf. Another trial at Metz went horribly wrong when a breathing test on a spirometer caused Platini to faint. The doctor's verdict on Platini's breathing difficulties and weak heart ended any hopes Platini had of playing for his boyhood favorites. He then joined the reserve side of his father's club Nancy in September 1972, and became friends with team goalkeeper Jean-Michel Moutier. ...

Source: Article "Michel Platini" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Imaginative, quick and creative INTJ personality types are intellectually curious who can grasp complex problems and data, analyse them quickly and come up with solutions. They are the strategic problem solvers preferring the big picture to the mundane and set high standards for themselves and others. Getting close to the INTJ will take some time, and they may not always involve others in the decision-making process. This can make them seem slightly detached, but it is simply that the processing which takes place, (and a great deal of processing takes place), goes on inside their heads and this can make others feel a little left out.

INTJs are the deep, quick-thinking, imaginative, far sighted individuals, who have a crystal-clear view of the future, exactly how it ought to be, and they will then work logically and relentlessly to make it happen. Although quite deep and mistrustful until they have the measure of people, the INTJ loves an intellectual challenge and will be stimulated by the conceptual, the abstract and the complex. They love the complex, the new, the untried and untested. Facts and figures bore them, unless they clearly relate to something much bigger, and they will be looking to see the 'big picture,' planning for the future that they create.

Unlike an ENTJ who will happily engage in verbal jousts and so happily process their thoughts through speaking, the INTJ will be private and keep thought processes inside until they pop out perfectly formed with 'the plan of action.' This may be the first opportunity for others to even realise that so much was going on 'inside.'

INTJs make decisions based on rational logic, rather than emotion and they will be quite measured and dispassionate in their approach to other people. They generally have strong opinions, are independent thinkers, but they rarely feel the need to verbalise their thoughts, other than to come up with ‘the plan’ or ‘the answer.’ The INTJ’s dislike of the basic facts or anything that doesn’t have a wider meaning or context to them at times will work against them as they can make decisions based on their theories and concepts and they may overlook 'the obvious,' preferring to focus on the complex solution, which is where they thrive and are happiest.

Creative, complex and analytical, INTJs have intellectually curious, active minds, directed internally and their ‘N’ trait enables them to see very quickly and very clearly the interconnections between things and the longer-term implications of trends, current actions and events. They have a unique talent for analysing complex problems and issues and determining how they can be improved or solved, whether it be a small project, a simple problem or a whole organisation. However, they are strategic, as opposed to day-to-day, problem solvers preferring the innovative to anything they would see as tedious or pointless or routine. They set high standards for themselves and will be constantly looking to stretch, improve and learn, and will immerse themselves in a subject that takes their interest, so that they will quickly develop real expertise.

Being introverts, they internalise their thought processes and so are often viewed as slightly disconnected or impenetrable and difficult to understand. This is because they often leave a ‘void’ and when a void is left other people often fill the void with their own assumptions and predilections, rarely positive ones. So, one person may say “he’s not interested,” another may say “she doesn't like me,” and yet another “she is so full of herself,” all missing the point about the difficult to read INTJ who is primarily interested in intellectual issues rather than the more mundane aspects of everyday life.

Yet although introverted, when on their chosen subject, or explaining the most complex of theories, the INTJ can be like a wave of enthusiasm, lucid, passionate and engaging; but when it’s over, it’s over, they will disappear back to their intellectual pursuits, alone. The INTJ will get their thrill from proving they were right in their hypothesis, proving this to themselves, not anyone else as they are, of all the types (along with INTP), the most independent of thought and action.