"It was the era when our trucks burned": the day France learned to beat Spain

TorellóThe relationship between Spain and France is full of tensions, like so many stories between neighbors. Also in the world of football. The Spanish team won in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Eurocup and in the semifinals of the 2024 Eurocup, but in France they still remember the victory in the only World Cup precedent. It was in the round of 16 of the 2006 edition. The front page of a Madrid newspaper warned with a bold "We are going to retire Zidane", but Luis Aragonés' team had to pack their bags (1-3). The third French goal, to make matters worse, was scored by Zidane, who later went viral in the final against Italy – decided on penalties in favor of the transalpines – for his headbutt to Marco Materazzi. This Tuesday, it will be the second match between Spain and France in the final phase of a World Cup. Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé embody this new rivalry in southern Europe (9 PM, La 1 and DAZN).

In total, Spain and France have faced each other 38 times, with 18 Spanish victories, 13 French triumphs, and 7 draws. Spain, earlier in its interest and passion for football, won 7 of the first 8 duels, with a balance of 30 goals for and only 4 against, but the rivalry gradually equalized over the years and the dynamic changed definitively at the 1984 European Championship.

Salva Garcia Puig (Sant Adrià de Besòs, 1961), the only Catalan in that squad, then at Zaragoza, recalls that relations between the two countries at that time were particularly tense. "It was the era when they burned our trucks," notes Salva. French farmers attacked, looted, and burned trucks full of fruits and vegetables to protest against Spanish competition.

It was a smaller world and smaller football: the European Championship only had eight teams, a third of what it has now, and all Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian players played in their local leagues. Only one Frenchman and one German played outside their country: Michel Platini at Juventus and Uli Stielike at Madrid.

"I have many anecdotes from those days in France," assures Julio Alberto (Candás, Asturias, 1958), one of the four representatives from Barça in that team. "We communicated with the people of France using gestures and jokes. We played cards and billiards and we played pranks on each other. We hid their shoes, we stole their room keys. I remember going up several floors and throwing water from above at the journalists waiting for us below. All these things were normal at that time. We got up to a lot of mischief," he admits with a smile. Salva recalls that at that time the veterans drank the young players' glasses of wine and you had to inspect the dishes to see if anyone had put anything in them: "When you started, it was like going to military service."

Julio Alberto shared a room with the Madridista Emilio Butragueño and Salva with Juan Señor, the final hero of the 12-1 against Malta. The team qualified for the European Championship with an "indescribable" feat and started the tournament with two dull draws, but advanced from the group thanks to a great victory against West Germany, the reigning champions, in Salva's debut. Salva had grown up at Barça, but in 1982 he was transferred to Zaragoza as part of the signing of Pichi Alonso. At the last minute, Josep Lluís Núñez told him they wanted him and to invent an excuse not to go to La Romareda – "Something about my mother or personal, whatever it was," explains the former player – but he didn't back down.

"We lost because they robbed us"

In the semi-finals they beat Denmark on penalties and in the final they met the host nation, France, on Wednesday, June 27, 1984, at the Parc des Princes. "We lost because they stole the game from us. They were a great team, but they robbed us. I still remember the referee's name," he says. He was Czechoslovak: Vojtech Christov. In the 57th minute, he whistled a foul by Salva himself that changed the history of the match and of both teams. "It wasn't a foul. It wasn't a foul," he repeats, with the backing of the images.

Salva and Julio Alberto positioned themselves near the goalkeeper, Luis Miguel Arconada. They experienced one of the most dramatic and unforgettable plays in Spain's history from the front line. Platini, Ballon d'Or winner in 1983, 1984, and 1985, shot from the edge of the box and Arconada, a hero so many times, blocked an easy ball, but suddenly it slipped through his hands, no one knows how or why, and went into the goal. It was 1-0. Salva appears in the images with his hands on his head. "We were stunned. We couldn't believe it. It was incredible," he points out.

In the 91st minute, Miguel Muñoz's team was already desperately attacking and Bruno Bellone rounded off the French triumph in a counter-attack and confirmed the French national team's first international title. Salva still keeps the boots from that match, a jersey, and the silver medal. Next to the silver medal from the European Cup final of Barça against Steaua Bucharest, in 1986 in Seville. "I am a European runner-up at club and national team level," he says with a sad smile.