French football legend and 1984 European champion Bernard Lacombe has died two months before his 73rd birthday, the press service of the French football club Olympique (Lyon) announced, quoted by BTA.
Lacombe was born on August 15, 1952.
The former striker spent nine years with this team – from 1969 to 1978, after which he moved to Saint-Etienne for one season and finished his career in Bordeaux, where he played for another eight years. The causes of death were not reported.
For his 18-year career, Lacombe – Although only 171 cm tall, he became a real goal machine, scoring 255 goals in 497 professional football matches (304 goals in 592 matches in all tournaments, including youth and Olympic teams). For the French national team, he recorded 38 matches with 12 goals. In the memory of the fans, he will remain, in addition to the European title in 1984, with the fastest goal for France at the World Cup, after scoring against Italy in the 30th second at the 1978 tournament.
With his 255 goals, he is second in the list of scorers in the French League 1, behind only Delio Onis, who scored 299 times.
After the end of his career, Lacombe returned to his hometown of Lyon and engaged in coaching activities, including leading the first team of his club in the period 1996-2000.
Lacombe is the first participant in the France team at Euro 84 to leave this world. Lyon and Bordeaux immediately expressed their condolences on his death, as did the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Philippe Diallo.