TO SAY that Philippos Stavrou is nuts about Michel Platini would be the understatement of the year. The 47-year-old has built a shrine dedicated to the French football legend in his home village of Mosfiloti. Oh, and Platini’s been there.
Stavrou walks, talks and breathes Platini, now president of UEFA. When I first contacted him on the phone and asked how he was, his response was: “I am well, praise be to Platini.” For a split-second, the admittedly catchy sound byte seemed a bit contrived, intended for the ears of a journalist. How serious was this guy?
The picturesque village of Mosfiloti lies off the Nicosia-Limassol highway, about a 25-minute drive from the capital. It’s probably the last place you’d expect to see a coffeeshop/snack bar that doubles as The House of Platini.
It matters not how world-savvy you are; the House of Platini is sure to blow you away. The coffeeshop, which also serves kebab, is jam-packed with Platini memorabilia: a raft of pictures, posters, jerseys and footballs autographed by the great man himself. All carefully and neatly arranged.
It’s taken Stavrou more than 20 years to craft this extraordinary memorial in honour of Platini, who shot to fame as star of Italian club Juventus and a member of the French national team in the late 1970s and the 1980s, taking part in three World Cups.
When I met Stavrou, he was prepared, wearing a jersey of the French national team with the number 10 emblazoned on the back.
“Just like my idol,” he tells me, a wide proud grin on his face.
As a young man, Stavrou played some football himself, mostly for Ermis Aradippou then in the Second Division.
“I always wore the number 10 on my shirt. Half the folks here call me by my given name, the rest just call me ‘Platini’.”
When he started building the shrine, he says, most of the villagers would mock him.
But Stavrou had the last laugh, because around two weeks ago his life’s dream came true.
“I got a call from [UEFA Vice Chairman] Marios Lefkaritis telling me he would visit my place on Friday October 9 at 11.30am,” explains Stavrou.
“When Lefkaritis arrived, he got out of the car, paused and said ‘Look who’s here’. And lo and behold, out comes Michel Platini in the flesh. As soon as I saw him I screamed ‘Michel’! I think the entire village must have heard me.”
Stavrou describes it as the greatest day in his life. He claims the whole setup was a surprise. It was Lefkaritis who had arranged the meeting. The UEFA Vice Chairman told his boss Platini about Stavrou, and the Frenchman was intrigued enough to agree to visit Mosfiloti, a place he’d most likely never heard of.
“I almost had a stroke that day,” recounts Stavrou with a boyish enthusiasm. “We were just sitting there, outside the coffeeshop with Platini and his wife Christelle. It was like I was in a daze.”
Stavrou had caught his first glimpse of his hero back in June 2007, when Platini was in Nicosia for the inauguration of the Cyprus Football Association’s new offices. The premises were co-financed by UEFA. Later that night, Stavrou took his two children and went to a gala at Nicosia’s Hilton Park hotel, in the hopes of somehow meeting Platini. It was a long shot.
But at the gala, a mutual acquaintance of Stavrou’s and Lefkaritis’ overheard some people referring to Stavrou as ‘Platini’ and his interest was piqued. After getting the skinny on Stavrou, the acquaintance made the introductions, and the rest as they say is history.
Stavrou tells me that Lefkaritis served as an interpreter for him and Platini.
Following that brief get-together, Stavrou stayed in touch with Lefkaritis, who promised to visit the “House of Platini” at the earliest time convenient. He never expected Lefkaritis to bring Platini along for the ride.
“Michel (they’re on a first-name basis), had tea, no sugar. Lefkaritis took Cypriot coffee,” recalls Stavrou.
He’s even kept the cup which Platini drank in. The cup is now part of the memorabilia, and sits on Stavrou’s desk, a consecrated reminder of the great day.
What’s Platini like, I had to ask Stavrou.
“A really cool guy, very calm, very gracious. More importantly, he’s a down-to-earth person. At one point, he teased my son, telling him ‘Your dad’s crazy’, referring to the club. So my son goes, ‘Yeah, crazy about you’.”
Stavrou plans to eventually turn the club into a museum, but insists his motives are purely devotional.
“Never. I shall never exploit Michel commercially. He’s my idol,” he says.
Asking Stavrou to name his all-time favorite player is a dead giveaway.
“After Platini, I’d say Pelé, then Maradona. But you know what? Michel is a nice guy, and after meeting him in person my esteem for him has multiplied. Can you say the same about that Maradona fellow?”
