Johan Micoud

Johan Micoud

Personal information
Date of birth	24 July 1973 (1973-07-24)
Place of birth	Cannes, France
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1996	Cannes	127	(17)
1996–2000	Bordeaux	127	(27)
2000–2002	Parma	47	(9)
2002–2006	Werder Bremen	123	(31)
2006–2008	Bordeaux	61	(10)
	Total	485	(94)
National team
1999–2004	France	17	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Johan Micoud (born 24 July 1973) is a retired French footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder.

Left-footed, he was considered a skilled midfielder and a dead-ball expert; during a 16-year professional career, he played professionally, other than in his country, in Italy and Germany.

Micoud gained nearly 20 caps for France, and represented the nation at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2000, winning the latter tournament.

Club career

Born in Cannes, Micoud was a youth product of local AS Cannes' youth system, becoming the side's playmaker after Zinedine Zidane's departure to FC Girondins de Bordeaux. He helped the club to promotion from the second division in 1993 and UEFA Cup qualification the following season.

In 1998–99, two years after also moving to Bordeaux, Micoud played a pivotal role as the club were crowned Ligue 1 champions, and helped it to the following season UEFA Champions League's second group stage.

In 2000, he was seduced by the attraction of playing abroad, initially joining Parma AC, where he stayed for two seasons. Micoud then moved to Germany, signing for SV Werder Bremen, where he enjoyed a successful four-year stay, the peak of which being a major force in the league and cup double in 2004, as he netted 10 league goals, the highest for a midfielder alongside Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Bernd Schneider.

In June 2006, aged 32, Micoud returned to France, re-joining the club where he first flourished, Bordeaux, enjoying immediate success as he scored the winner in his first league match back at the club, at FC Lorient (1–0). He quickly became a key player in Bordeaux's squad, helping it to win the 2007 League Cup and fight for the title the following season. However, after two solid seasons, Laurent Blanc announced on 10 May 2008 that Micoud's contract would not be renewed at the end of the season, and the player subsequently retired from the game, one month shy of his 35th birthday.

International career

Despite being selected in the French national team on several occasions throughout his career, Micoud never managed to secure himself a regular starting role, mainly due to the presence of Zidane, whom occupied the same position.

Courtesy of his stellar championship performances with Bordeaux, he made his debut on 17 August 1999, in a friendly match with Northern Ireland, and was subsequently picked for the squad which won UEFA Euro 2000, but he only played in one of the six matches of the tournament, in the group match against Netherlands, effectively a dead rubber given that both nations had already qualified both the group. He was also selected for the disastrous FIFA World Cup campaign of 2002, during which he was entrusted with the key midfield role against Uruguay, only to turn in a largely unconvincing display in a disappointing 0–0 draw, mostly remembered for Thierry Henry's red card.

Regardless of his consistently high level of performance at club level, Micoud found himself subsequently marginalised by the following national selectors. Jacques Santini only selected him once, in a friendly match against Holland in 2004, and he failed to make the squad for Euro 2004, despite his Bremen performances. With Raymond Domenech, he did not win a single call-up for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, with the finals to be held in Germany, the country where he delivered strong performances on a regular basis.

External links

• Johan Micoud French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• L'Équipe stats (French)
• Bundesliga stats at Fussballdaten (German)
• Johan Micoud at National-Football-Teams.com