Maxime Jean Marcel Bossis (; born 26 June 1955) is a French retired professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played as a
defender.
Bossis spent most of his career playing for
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
, a club he helped win three
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
titles and one
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
. He obtained 76 caps (one goal) for the French national team, won the
1984 European Football Championship and played in two
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
semi-finals.
Club career
Bossis was born in
Saint-André-Treize-Voies
Saint-André-Treize-Voies is a former commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Montréverd.Vendée
Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442. . A longtime starter for
FC Nantes
Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, a ...
during the club's most successful period during the 1970s and 1980s, he was noted chiefly as a
full-back on the left flank, but filled in at various roles in defence. Bossis spent much of his time at right back during Nantes' championship-winning seasons in 1977 and 1980, in which
Thierry Tusseau
Thierry Tusseau (born 19 January 1958) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. As a player of French side Girondins de Bordeaux (1983–1986), he was a member of the France national team in the 1986 FIFA World Cup ...
normally started on the left, but made the left back position his own beginning in 1981. Bossis helped Nantes to finish first or second in every season between 1976 and 1981. The club added a third title in 1983, finishing ten points ahead of second-place
Girondins Bordeaux
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...
. In 1985, Bossis moved to the ambitious
RC Paris
Racing Club de France Football (, also known as Racing Paris, RCF Paris, Matra Racing, Racing Club, or Racing) is a French association football club based in Colombes, a suburb of Paris.
Racing was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline spor ...
, but the Parisian club achieved only modest success in spite of heavy spending that acquired such players as
Enzo Francescoli
Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (; born 12 November 1961), nicknamed "El Príncipe" ("The Prince"), is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a attacking midfielder. He is regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation and as one of ...
and
Pierre Littbarski
Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder or ...
. Bossis returned to Nantes for one final season in 1990, lining up next to future French international
Marcel Desailly
Marcel Desailly (born Odenke Abbey; 7 September 1968) is a French former professional footballer, widely considered to be among the greatest centre-backs and defensive midfielders to ever play football. During a successful career at club level, l ...
before retiring from play.
Bossis was named Footballer of the Year by
France Football
''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusi ...
in 1979 and 1981.
[Garin, Erik & Pierrend, Jose Luis]
"France - Footballer of the Year"
. ''RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...
'', 19 December 2013. Retrieved on 5 July 2014.
International career
Bossis also represented the
France national team for ten years, appearing at the
1978, 1982, and
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
World Cups
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, reaching the semifinals of the latter two editions of the tournament. He is mostly remembered for missing France's last penalty in the
1982 World Cup semifinal against
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. While the score was tied at 4–4, Bossis missed the next penalty, allowing
Horst Hrubesch
Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...
to score the last penalty and send the Germans to the final. Bossis was also an important member of the France team that won the
European Championship on home soil in 1984. From 1985 to 1992, he held the French record of caps, before fellow defender
Manuel Amoros
Manuel Amoros (born 1 February 1962) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He was capped 82 times for France, and played in the UEFA European Championships finals of 1984 and 1992, and the FIFA World Cup finals ...
established a new mark with 82 caps. He also held the French record of matches played in the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
with 15, which was subsequently surpassed by
Fabien Barthez
Fabien Alain Barthez (born 28 June 1971) is a French racing driver and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. At club level, he played football in both France and England with Toulouse, Marseille, AS Monaco, Manchester United ...
in 2006.
Personal life
Bossis' younger brother,
Joël, also played professional football and holds the all-time record for most goals scored for
Chamois Niortais.
After retirement
After he retired in 1991, Bossis briefly embraced a career as a football executive, heading the
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
Central Commission (1993–1995) before he joined
Saint-Étienne as sporting director (1996–1997). He then reinvented himself as a TV commentator, working first for
TPS, then for
Orange Sport
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
and since 2014 for
BeIn Sport
beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef O ...
.
Honours
Nantes
*
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
:
1976–77,
1979–80,
1982–83
*
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
:
1978–79
France
*
UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...
:
1984
*
Artemio Franchi Trophy
Artemio is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Artemio Franchi (1922–1983), Italian football administrator
*Artemio Lomboy Rillera (1947–2011), the Roman Catholic bishop of San Fernando de La Union, Philippines
* Artemio Panga ...
:
1985
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
: third place
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
; fourth place
1982
Individual
*
French Player of the Year: 1979, 1981
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bossis, Maxime
1955 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Vendée
French footballers
Association football defenders
France international footballers
1978 FIFA World Cup players
1982 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1984 players
1986 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FC Nantes players
Racing Club de France Football players
Ligue 1 players
French football managers
AS Saint-Étienne managers
Footballers from Pays de la Loire