Patrick Vieira

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Patrick Vieira
Personal information
Full name	Patrick Donalé Vieira
Date of birth	June 23, 1976 (age 30)
Place of birth	Dakar, Senegal
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Nickname	La Pieuvre (The Octopus)
Playing position	Centre Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Internazionale
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–1995 1995–1996 1996–2005 2005–2006 2006–present	AS Cannes A.C. Milan Arsenal Juventus Internazionale	49 (2) 2 (0) 279 (29) 38 (5) 14 (1)
National team2
1997– present	France	101 (6)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 25, 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of November 16, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Patrick Donalé Vieira (born June 23, 1976 in Dakar, Senegal) is a French football midfielder, who currently plays for Internazionale Milano. He came to prominence during his time at Arsenal between 1996 and 2005, where he won three FA Premier League titles and four FA Cups, and eventually became club captain. He spent a single season at Juventus before joining Inter in 2006, after Juventus were relegated due to their part in a match-fixing scandal. He has 101 caps for France, and was part of their 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning sides and is now the team captain.[1]

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Arsenal 1.3 Juventus 1.4 Internazionale 1.5 Unique Footballer Chants 2 International career 3 Honours 4 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Born in Senegal in the Cape Verdian community, Vieira's family moved to Paris when he was aged 8; he did not return to Senegal until 2003. Vieira first played for AS Cannes, where he made his debut at the age of 17 and captained the team aged only 19. Soon after that, in the summer of 1995, he was snapped up by Italian giants A.C. Milan, though he mainly stayed in the reserves and only made two appearances for the first team.

[edit] Arsenal

In September 1996, the incoming Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger asked for him to be bought from A.C. Milan before he took up his position. Vieira's height, stamina and physical strength meant he settled in England quickly, while his composure and the quality of his passing meant he became an integral part of Wenger's stylish attacking side.

Forming a midfield partnership with compatriot Emmanuel Petit, Vieira won the Premiership and FA Cup Double in 1998, his first full season at the club. That summer, he was called up to France's 1998 World Cup squad.

Vieira's earlier years at Arsenal was beset by disciplinary problems - in 2000-01 he was sent off twice in two consecutive matches, though after returning he did not accrue a card for 28 matches. In all he has been sent off twelve times in his career (nine times with Arsenal and once with Juventus, France and Internazionale).

Vieira would go on to win Euro 2000 with France, as well as a second Double with Arsenal in 2002. After Tony Adams's retirement in 2002, Vieira (already vice-captain) became club captain, since which his disciplinary problems cooled significantly. Though he missed Arsenal's 2003 FA Cup final win with injury, Vieira lifted the trophy jointly with captain for the day David Seaman.

In 2003-04 at Arsenal, he captained the side on an historic unbeaten season in the Premier League, and in the 2005 FA Cup Final he scored the winning kick in a penalty shoot-out with his final kick in Arsenal colours, after a 0-0 draw with Manchester United. In total, Vieira played 407 times for Arsenal and scored 33 times.

He returned to Arsenal for one game on July 22, 2006 in a testimonial for Dennis Bergkamp as one of the Arsenal legends against Ajax legends. Vieira is regarded as the best ever midfielder to represent Arsenal football club and is a hero amongst fans. Despite his departure, Vieira has remained a favourite among Arsenal fans, and there is a picture of him among 14 other past and present Arsenal greats in "The Armoury", at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium.

[edit] Juventus

Vieira's starring performances for Arsenal earned the attention of several major clubs abroad, as well as an approach from Manchester United. At the close of the 2003 and 2004 seasons, he was strongly linked with a move to Spanish superpower Real Madrid. It was also reported that despite Arsenal's Premiership and FA Cup victories, Vieira was frustrated by his club's lack of continental success and the UEFA Champions League was the one honour that eluded him[2]. The Spanish side reportedly offered Arsenal £23 million for him which was reluctantly accepted. However at the last moment after much deliberation Vieira decided to stay at the club where he made his name.

A year later, Vieira did move away from Highbury. Arsenal accepted a bid of £13.7m from Italian giants Juventus on July 14, 2005, and Vieira agreed a five-year contract with the Serie A side the following day. In his autobiography, he cited the main reason for his leaving Arsenal as the board's 'neutral' position over the Juventus bid.

The then Juventus coach Fabio Capello used Vieira in a midfield consisting of Brazilian Emerson and Czech Pavel Nedvěd. He helped Juventus to record their best ever start to a league season. Despite his performances dipping as the result of a persistent groin injury and a reported training ground bust-up with team mate Zlatan Ibrahimović, Vieira helped Juventus retain the Italian Championship.

In a twist of fate, Vieira returned to Highbury on March 28, 2006 to play against Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Arsenal won 2-0 on aggregate, scoring twice in the first leg. Vieira received a yellow card in the first leg match at Highbury and was suspended for the return leg on April 5, 2006. During the first leg he was the subject of a strong tackle by former club and national team mate Robert Pires, Vieira was left crestfallen, Pires regained possesion and Arsenal attacked scoring the first goal of the tie. Pires humorously quipped that it was the first time in 13 years he had got the better of Vieira physically. ^[1]

[edit] Internazionale

However, Juventus were stripped of their 2005-06 title (as well as the 04/05 title) after it was revealed they were involved in a match-fixing scandal. Juventus were relegated to Serie B and deducted 17 points by the Italian Football Federation for their involvement, prompting many of the club's major stars to move elsewhere. After press speculation linking him to various clubs, including Arsenal and Manchester United, on August 2, 2006 Vieira officially signed a 4 year-deal for Internazionale in a deal reported to be worth €9.5m, which was less than half the €20m fee Juventus had paid just 12 months prior.^[2]

[edit] Unique Footballer Chants

When Vieira was present at Arsenal before his 2006 departure, the arsenal supporters came up with a unique song for Vieira. This was sung on numerous occasions and is known by many. Sung to the tune of Volare by Dean Martin with the words: "Viiieirra.. O-O-O.. Viiieirra.. O-O-O-O.. He comes from Senegal, He plays for Arsenal.. Viiieirraaa.."

[edit] International career

While at Arsenal, he made his debut for the France, in 1997 against the Netherlands. Vieira was part of the France squad in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He came on as a substitute for Youri Djorkaeff in the final against Brazil, and set up club teammate Petit for France's third goal in a 3-0 win. He, with the rest of the squad, received Légion d'Honneur, France's highest decoration in 1998.

He subsequently played as a first choice midfield player in France's successful campaign in Euro 2000, which they won, beating Italy in the final. He also played in all three games in the FIFA World Cup 2002, in which France were eliminated in the group stage, failing to score a goal. He was injured and missed France's defeat to Greece at Euro 2004.

Vieira was appointed national team captain on Zinedine Zidane's retirement from international football. Nonetheless, he and veteran defender Lilian Thuram were instrumental in convincing Zidane to end his retirement and help the flagging campaign to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Vieira even handed back the captaincy of the team to Zidane.

On June 23, 2006, his birthday, Vieira took the captain's armband for the match in place of the suspended Zidane, whom he shared the birthday with, scoring the first goal when France defeated Togo 2-0 in the group stages of the FIFA World Cup 2006; Vieira set up Thierry Henry for France's second. This win helped France advance to the knockout stages, coming second behind Switzerland, and it prolonged Zidane's international career. In the round of sixteen, Vieira scored the second goal in France's 3-1 defeat of Spain; France went on to beat favourites Brazil 1-0 in the quarter-finals, and Portugal by the same score in the semi-finals, which gave them a place in the final against Italy. Having played in every match up to the final, Vieira started the match but was substituted due to injury in the second half, likely sustained when he collided with Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro. Italy won 5-3 on penalties after the game finished 1-1 after extra time. As of November 23, 2006 Vieira has appeared 100 times for France, scoring 6 goals.

On August 5, 2006 Vieira was reappointed captain of the French national team for the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

[edit] Honours

With France:

• FIFA World Cup
  • Appearances: 1998, 2002, 2006.
  • Winner: World Cup 1998
  • Runner Up: World Cup 2006
• European Championship
  • Appearances: 2000, 2004.
  • Winner: Euro 2000

With Arsenal:

• English Premiership titles (3) : 1997-98, 2001-02, 2003-04.
• English FA Cup (4) : 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005.
• Carlsberg Player of the Year : 2004

With Juventus:

• Serie A Scudetto (1) : 2005-06 (Juventus were stripped of the Title after being found guilty in a match fixing scandal.)

Other:

• Selected to FIFA 100: 2004
• Légion d'Honneur, France's highest decoration, 1998

[edit] External links

• Patrick Vieira career stats at Soccerbase
• A Tearful Divorce
• News article on the sale of Vieira to Juventus
• Official Internazionale site (English Version)
• Official Juventus site (English Version)
• Official Arsenal site

Preceded by Tony Adams	Arsenal captain 2002–2005	Succeeded by Thierry Henry
Preceded by Zinedine Zidane	France captain 2004–2005	Succeeded by Zinedine Zidane
Preceded by Zinedine Zidane	France captain 2006–	Succeeded by Incumbent

	France squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Champions (1st Title)
1 Lama | 2 Candela | 3 Lizarazu | 4 Vieira | 5 Blanc | 6 Djorkaeff | 7 Deschamps | 8 Desailly | 9 Guivarc'h | 10 Zidane | 11 Pirès | 12 Henry | 13 Diomède | 14 Boghossian | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Petit | 18 Leboeuf | 19 Karembeu | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Dugarry | 22 Charbonnier | Coach: Jacquet

	France squad - 2000 European Football Championship (2nd Title)
1 Lama | 2 Candela | 3 Lizarazu | 4 Vieira | 5 Blanc | 6 Djorkaeff | 7 Deschamps | 8 Desailly | 9 Anelka | 10 Zidane | 11 Pirès | 12 Henry | 13 Wiltord | 14 Micoud | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Petit | 18 Leboeuf | 19 Karembeu | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Dugarry | 22 Ramé | Coach: Lemerre

	France squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Ramé | 2 Candela | 3 Lizarazu | 4 Vieira | 5 Christanval | 6 Djorkaeff | 7 Makélélé | 8 Desailly | 9 Cissé | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Boghossian | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Petit | 18 Leboeuf | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Dugarry | 22 Micoud | 23 Coupet | Coach: Lemerre

	France squad - 2004 European Football Championship Quarter-finalists
1 Landreau | 2 Boumsong | 3 Lizarazu | 4 Vieira | 5 Gallas | 6 Makélélé | 7 Pirès | 8 Desailly | 9 Saha | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Rothen | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Dacourt | 18 Pedretti | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Marlet | 22 Govou | 23 Coupet | Coach: Santini

	France squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Runners-up
1 Landreau | 2 Boumsong | 3 Abidal | 4 Vieira | 5 Gallas | 6 Makélélé | 7 Malouda | 8 Dhorasoo | 9 Govou | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Saha | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Givet | 18 Diarra | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Chimbonda | 22 Ribéry | 23 Coupet | Coach: Domenech

F.C. Internazionale Milano - Current Squad

1 Toldo | 2 Córdoba | 4 Zanetti | 5 Stanković | 6 Maxwell | 7 Figo | 8 Ibrahimović | 9 Cruz | 10 Adriano | 11 Grosso | 12 Júlio César | 13 Maicon | 14 Vieira | 15 Dacourt | 16 Burdisso | 18 Crespo | 19 Cambiasso | 20 Recoba | 21 Solari | 22 Orlandoni | 23 Materazzi | 25 Samuel | 36 Fautario | 50 Maaroufi | 51 Bonucci | 57 Filkor | 58 Biabiany | 60 Ribas | 61 Slavkovski | 77 Andreolli | 79 Carini | 91 González | 99 Choutos | Coach Mancini

Persondata
NAME	Vieira, Patrick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional football player
DATE OF BIRTH	June 23, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dakar, Senegal
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH