Fabien Barthez

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Fabien Barthez
Personal information
Full name	Fabien Alain Barthez
Date of birth	June 28, 1971 (age 35)
Place of birth	Lavelanet, France
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Nantes
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1990-1992 1992-1995 1995-2000 2000-2003 2003-2006 2006-present	Toulouse FC Olympique de Marseille AS Monaco Manchester United Olympique de Marseille Nantes	26 (0) 142 (0) 143 (0) 92 (0) 74 (2) 1 (0)
National team
1994-2006	France	87 (1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Fabien Alain Barthez (born 28 June 1971 in Lavelanet) is a French football player who plays the position of goalkeeper. With the French national team, he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 World Cup. He shares the record for most World Cup final clean sheets with Peter Shilton, with 10. Professionally, he has kept goal for his clubs to a Champions League title and several Ligue 1 and Premier League championships.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Olympique de Marseille 1.2 Manchester United 1.3 Return to Olympique de Marseille 1.4 Retirement 1.5 Comeback 2 International career 2.1 1998 World Cup 2.2 2006 World Cup 3 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Olympique de Marseille

Born in Lavelanet, Ariège, Barthez made his first division debut for Toulouse on 21 September 1991, against AS Nancy Lorraine. He joined Olympique de Marseille in 1992, and won both the French championship and the Champions League at the end of his first season in Marseille. His performance in the final against A.C. Milan was one of the best ever seen for a goalkeeper, and the 1993 victory made him the youngest goalkeeper to win a Champions League title until Íker Casillas did so in 2000.

However, OM would be stripped of their domestic title, though not of the Champions League crown, due to their involvement in a domestic match fixing scandal, and a year later (1994) would suffer a forced relegation to the second division due to a related financial bankruptcy. Barthez's 1993-1994 season is seen by many as his best in the Championnat, his many saves and the goalscoring quality of Sonny Anderson allowed l'OM to finish second this year. He stayed with his club in Division 2 for the 1994-1995 season despite many offers from elite French clubs.

In 1995, Barthez joined AS Monaco and won Ligue 1 titles in 1997 and 2000.

[edit] Manchester United

As a result of Barthez's success in the World Cup and Euro, he caught the attention of Manchester United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who was searching for a star goalkeeper to replace the departed Peter Schmeichel. Barthez joined United for £7.8 million in 2000. He was later reunited with national teammate Laurent Blanc who joined Manchester United in 2001. The Barthez-Blanc head-kissing ritual was performed at the start of Champions League matches.

Well-known for being eccentric, he started out well for Manchester United. His first season was a triumph as he answered all the questions about how he would handle rainy Manchester compared to sunny Monaco. Barthez performed brilliantly throughout the season and became a crowd favourite. The fans loved his eccentric behaviour, his taunting dribbles and step-overs past opposing strikers, and most importantly, his remarkable reaction saves. Very often was it was critical saves that kept United from defeat or dropping valuable points, helping United to the 2000-2001 Premier League title, which was United's third in a row.

The 2001-2002 season was split into two parts for him. In the first half was a nightmare. The Frenchman seemed to be taking some unnecessary risks outside his penalty area, and his antics began to have consequences that allowed undeserved goals from opposing teams. There was much speculation as to what was the source of Barthez's decline, and critics urged him to be dropped. However, Sir Alex Ferguson had faith in his goalkeeper and stuck by him. Consequently in the second half of the season, Barthez repaired his reputation with consistent, solid performances and the spectacular saves that he was famous for.

In 2002-2003 Fabien helped United create the best defensive record in the Premiership with a more steady approach, which led to another Premiership crown. One highlight was a fabulous save to deny Dietmar Hamann's 30 yard rocket at Anfield as United held on to win 2-1. However, numerous blunders, including a notorious one against Deportivo La Coruña, ^[1] led to people making many jokes about him. Barthez was also widely criticised in United's exit to Real Madrid in the Champions League, especially for Ronaldo's opener which beat him to the near post. It would prove to be his last ever game with United as Sir Alex Ferguson's patience had finally run out. Barthez was dropped for the final 3 games of the season.

[edit] Return to Olympique de Marseille

In October 2003, after American newcomer Tim Howard won the starting goalkeeper's job from Barthez, United agreed to release Barthez from his contract at Old Trafford after the 2003-04 season, and also agreed to loan Barthez out to Olympique de Marseille for the remainder of that season. However, FIFA blocked the loan deal on the grounds that it was not agreed upon within the international transfer window. The two clubs agreed on a loan deal after the transfer window reopened on 1 January 2004, and Barthez joined Olympique de Marseille soon afterwards. On 27 April, Olympique de Marseille and Barthez agreed to a two-and-a-half-year contract which would keep him at the club until spring 2006.

Barthez was involved in a controversy due to his actions during a friendly match between OM and Morocco's Raja Casablanca on 12 February 2005. With 10 minutes left, an OM player was sent off, and a brawl erupted between players on the pitch. Barthez was reported for spitting on the Moroccan referee. On 21 April, Barthez was summoned to a hearing before the disciplinary committee of the French Football Federation; the following day, he received a six-month suspension, with the last three months being suspended. In an unusual move, the federal council of the FFF appealed the suspension, arguing that the punishment should have been for a minimum of six full months. Eventually, his suspension was extended to six full months due to political pressures.

Barthez ended his career with controversial events. These included urination on pitches, spitting at a referee and using offensive signlanguage at away fans.

[edit] Retirement

On August 8, 2006, Barthez announced he was still hoping to play professional football for another two years, insisting he was also looking to continue his career in the French international setup. His ideal scenario would be a return to first club Toulouse, where he could be close enough to allow him to take care of his sick mother. But he said if he did not have a club by 31 August he would not carry on with football. On October 5, 2006 it was confirmed that he has retired from football, having failed to agree a return to Toulouse. Barthez commented: "The only club I wanted to go to was not so happy to have me. It happens and you have to live with it."^[2]

In addition to his retirement from club play, he also became the fourth World Cup-participating goalkeeper in less than a week to officially call it quits from national team play, following Brazil's Dida and Marcos, and Australian international Željko Kalac.

[edit] Comeback

On 17 December 2006, Barthez annonced his return to football by signing a contract with French Ligue 1 side FC Nantes Atlantique^[3], who were lacking an experienced goalkeeper following Mickaël Landreau's move to Paris Saint-Germain last summer. Serb goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković, originally recruited to replace Landreau, failed to impress and left Nantes at the winter break following a vicious rift within the squad. Backup Vincent Briant, at 20, had no Ligue 1 experience prior to this season, while the third goalkeeper, 31-year-old journeyman Tony Heurtebis, has extensive Ligue 1 experience but is not perceived by manager Michel Der Zakarian as the defensive anchor he is looking for in his relegation-threatened side.

Barthez is rumoured to have been offered a six-month contract with the option of being extended another two years upon the end of the 2006-07 season. He also announced a possible international comeback, although France coach Raymond Domenech has yet to call him up as of March 2007.

[edit] International career

[edit] 1998 World Cup

On 26 May 1994, he won his first cap for France against Australia. Though Barthez missed Euro 1996 where his country went all the way to the semi-finals, he gained the number one goalkeeping position shortly afterwards and would not relinquish it for a decade.

In the 1998 World Cup which was hosted by his home country, Barthez conceded only two goals in seven games and bagged the Yashin Award as the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Barthez was also well-known during the tournament for letting teammate and good friend Laurent Blanc kiss his shaved head before the start of every match, supposedly for good luck. Barthez was an integral part of his national team's inaugural triumph which also made it the first time in 20 years that a host had won the World Cup; the highlight being a 3-0 shutout of defending champion Brazil in the finals. During the game, Barthez made a spectacular save on Brazilian superstar Ronaldo, doing his trademark leap/step-over the attacking striker to grab the ball, which injured Ronaldo in the process. Barthez was afterwards one of the most popular national players in France, second only to Zinédine Zidane.

Two years later, Barthez was again the starter as his country won Euro 2000. It was the first time in over twenty years that a national team held both the World Cup and Euro titles, a feat last accomplished by West Germany in 1974. After that triumph, France held the top position in the FIFA World Rankings system from 2001-2002.

He played on France's World Cup team again in 2002 in which they exited in the first round without winning a game or scoring a goal. He was also the starter in Euro 2004, saving David Beckham's penalty shot in the round robin, but France was upset in the quarterfinals by eventual winners Greece.

Barthez is considered by many to be France's greatest ever Goalkeeper.

[edit] 2006 World Cup

His placement as starting goalkeeper on France's 2006 World Cup Squad, despite a substantial public campaign in support of Grégory Coupet, was surprising to many—even more so given Coupet's flawless performance in the remainder of the World Cup qualifying campaign after Barthez's suspension. This decision was met with derision in the French press and also led to Coupet's walking out of the national squad before the tournament, though he was to return one day later. The move was viewed by some as a desire to keep the veterans of France's 1998 World Cup victory on the team. Also, French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported after the World Cup that Barthez would have walked out of the squad had he not been named the starter, leaving coach Raymond Domenech with only one internationally tested goalkeeper.

France had a slow start in the group stage, drawing their first two games and putting their playoff chances at risk. Fortunately, Barthez's team found their form and won their final round robin match 2-0 to advance to the next stage, where they upset heavily favoured Spain 3-1 in the round of 16.

In defeating Brazil, 1-0 on July 1, 2006, Barthez—having made only one save in the game—became the first keeper to blank the Brazilian team in consecutive World Cup finals matches, the first being the 1998 final (3-0). France is now one of only two nations (along with Argentina) to have shut Brazil out twice in the World Cup finals, and the first to have done it in consecutive matches, both times with Barthez in goal.

Barthez again kept a clean sheet in the semi-final against Portugal (with Zinédine Zidane's penalty shot the winning goal), though he appeared in questionable form. A few minutes from time, he spectacularly spilled a free-kick which a Portuguese striker recovered, missing the open net by a whisker. He did, however, redeem himself in injury time when a French defender fumbled the ball, enabling a Portuguese player to mount a last-moment attack. Barthez scrambled out of the net and blocked the first shot; a linesman later ruled that the Portuguese player had been offside and if the goal had been scored it would not have counted.

During the final against Italy, Barthez was again in the spotlight for the wrong reason. On the corner kick that led to Marco Materazzi's equalizer, he hesitated to go collect the ball and was caught in no man's land, too far away from his line to manage a save on the Italian's powerful header. He briefly captained his team for the remainder of the second period of extra time after Zidane was sent off. During the penalty shootout, neither he nor his Italian counterpart Gianluigi Buffon made a save, and France striker David Trézéguet's missed shot ultimately proved decisive.

[edit] External links

• Article about France's 2004 victory over England with a VIDEO that includes Barthez's save from Beckham's penalty

FC Nantes Atlantique - Current Squad
1 Barthez | 3 Signorino | 4 Cetto | 5 Pierre | 6 Faé | 7 Norbert | 8 Da Rocha | 9 Oliech | 11 Capoue | 13 Diallo | 14 Sadiou | 15 Savinaud | 16 Heurtebis | 17 Cubilier | 19 Zaïri | 20 El Mourabet | 23 Ca | 24 Guillon | 25 Rossi | 26 Das Neves | 28 Pieroni | 28 Keserü | 29 Dimitrijević | 30 Briant | 31 Payet | 33 Mété | 34 Diop | 40 N'Dy Assembe | Coach: Der Zakarian

	France squad - 1996 European Football Championship Semi-finalists
1 Lama | 2 Angloma | 3 Di Meco | 4 Leboeuf | 5 Blanc | 6 Guérin | 7 Deschamps | 8 Desailly | 9 Djorkaeff | 10 Zidane | 11 Loko | 12 Lizarazu | 13 Dugarry | 14 Lamouchi | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Madar | 18 Pedros | 19 Karembeu | 20 Roche | 21 Martins | 22 Martini | Coach: Jacquet

	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