What is the toughest honour a footballer can achieve in their career? Maybe going through an entire league season unbeaten ? Or perhaps playing in five consecutive World Cups? Actually, for some unknown reason, it is receiving a perfect score of ten marks from a French daily sports newspaper. L’Equipe have a worldwide reputation for dishing out notoriously harsh player ratings on a regular basis. VIDEO: Why Arsenal Want Mikel Merino So Badly Whichever game they are covering, the French publication have historically been a very tough bunch to impress.
As recently as 2010, only four players had ever received a perfect score. We’ve seen them a little more often since but still, as of August 2024, only 15 players are on the exclusive list. Let’s take a look at every player to have made it so far.
.. 1.
Franck Sauzee (France U21 v Greece U21, 1988) Considering they were founded in 1946 L’Equipe held off for a long time before awarding a perfect ten marks. The honour of the first player to achieve this feat goes to Franck Sauzee, who would later manage Hibs and the slightly less glamourous honour of captaining France. Sauzee earned his ten for scoring twice in the under-21 European Championship final against Greece, France winning 3-0 2.
Bruno Martini (France U21 v Greece U21, 1988) Like London buses, you wait ages for a L’Equipe 10/10, then two come along at once. Technically goalkeeper Bruno Martini is also the first player to have earned a ten, alongside teammate Sauzee.