Lilian Thuram

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram.jpg
Thuram pictured in 2012
Personal information
Full name Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien
Date of birth (1972-01-01) 1 January 1972 (age 41)
Place of birth Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing position Right-back / Centre-back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1990–1996 Monaco 155 (8)
1996–2001 Parma 163 (1)
2001–2006 Juventus 144 (1)
2006–2008 Barcelona 41 (0)
Total 503 (10)
National team
1994–2008 France 142 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Lilian Thuram (French pronunciation: ​[li.ljɑ̃ ty.ʁɑ̃];[2] born Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien on 1 January 1972 in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe) is a retired professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team, and one of the twenty most capped players of all time.

He played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A with both Parma and Juventus. With France, Thuram won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

Contents

Club career [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion. (April 2013)

Thuram's football career began with Monaco of the French Ligue 1 in 1991. He then transferred to Parma (1996–2001) and then to Juventus (2001–2006) for £25 million, and eventually to Barcelona in 2006.

Monaco [edit]

Thuram started his professional career with AS Monaco in 1991. He only made 1 appearance that season, but was officially promoted to the first team the following season, when he would go on to make 19 appearances. He was inserted into the starting eleven by the end of 1992 and would go onto make 155 league appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit, before transferring to Parma in the summer of 1996. He made his national team debut in 1994, while at Monaco.

Parma [edit]

In July 1996, Thuram made a highly watched transfer to Italy, with Serie A club, Parma. In his first season with the club, he made over 40 appearances for the club, in all competitions, scoring 1 goal. He maintained starting position throughout his time with Parma, and racked up 163 Serie A appearances, scoring the lone league goal. In all, he made over 200 appearances for the club, really making a name for himself, also earning caps for France. Following another overly impressive season in 2000–2001, Thuram[3] along with teammate Gianluigi Buffon transferred to Juventus FC, one of the European giants, and Italian Scudetto holders. His transfer cost the club 80,000 million lire (€41,316,552).[4] While at Parma, he won the UEFA Cup in 1998–99, along with eventual Juventus teammates Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro.

Thuram with Barcelona in 2008

Juventus [edit]

In the summer of 2001, Thuram made a high profile transfer to Juventus, along with Buffon. During this period, under coach Marcello Lippi, Juventus was considered as one of the strongest teams in the world, also containing what was considered as one of the best defences in the world by many, and teams strongly regretted ever going down a goal to the club, as they knew how hard it would be to score one back for themselves. Thuram formed impressive defensive partnerships with the likes of Ciro Ferrara, Paolo Montero, Gianluca Pessotto, Mark Iuliano, Alessandro Birindelli, Igor Tudor, Gianluca Zambrotta, Nicola Legrottaglie, Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Federico Balzaretti, and Jonathan Zebina during his 5-year tenure with the club. During his time with the club Thuram won the Scudetto four times with Juventus, although two of these titles were revoked due to the 2006 Italian football scandal. During the seasons 2004–05 and 2005–06, under coach Fabio Capello, Thuram, along with Gianluigi Buffon in goal, Gianluca Zambrotta at left back,[citation needed] he and Fabio Cannavaro in the center of defence, and Jonathan Zebina at right back[citation needed] formed one of the most expensive, but also most feared, defenses in Italy. After 5 years with the Italian giants, Thuram transferred to Barcelona in La Liga, in the wake of the calciopoli scandal. He managed over 200 total appearances for the club, with 2 goals.

Barcelona [edit]

On 24 July 2006, Thuram signed with Catalan club Barcelona[5] for €5 million[6] after Juventus were relegated to Serie B due to the Calciopoli scandal. After his contract expired in the 2007–2008 season, Thuram was forced to call time on his illustrious career due to a rare heart condition which had a few years prior taken the life of his brother. In the season before his announced retirement (the 2007–08 season), he was the third/fourth choice centre back after Carles Puyol, Gabriel Milito, and Rafael Márquez.[7]

International career [edit]

After becoming world champion in 1998, Thuram was an integral part of France's triumph at Euro 2000, which led to the team being ranked by FIFA as number one from 2001–2002. He also played in the 2002 World Cup, 2006 World Cup, Euro 96, Euro 2004, and Euro 2008

1998 World Cup [edit]

Thuram scored only two international goals, both of which came in one game – the 1998 World Cup semi-final against Croatia, in which France came back to win 2–1 and advance to the final. France defeated Brazil 3–0 to capture their inaugural World Cup and Thuram won the Bronze Ball as the third most valuable player in the tournament. He, Bixente Lizarazu, Laurent Blanc and Marcel Desailly formed the backbone of the French defence that conceded only 2 goals in seven games.

2006 World Cup [edit]

After a brief international retirement, France coach Raymond Domenech convinced Thuram to return to the French team on 17 August 2005, along with fellow "Golden Generation" teammates Zinedine Zidane and Claude Makélélé, as Les Bleus struggled to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Thuram's centre-back partnership with William Gallas was to be the foundation for France's progression to the final. Thuram earned his 116th cap for France in the group stage match against South Korea in Leipzig on 18 June 2006. In that game he equalled Desailly's record number of caps, which he broke in the final group stage match, a 2–0 win over Togo in Cologne on 23 June 2006, winning his 117th cap. He was named the Man of the match in France's semi-final 1–0 victory against Portugal, coincidentally the same distinction he had earned eight years earlier at the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup.

Euro 2008 [edit]

On 9 June 2008, Thuram took the field against Romania in a group match, and became the first player to make 15 UEFA European Championship finals appearances. The former record of 14 appearances was held by Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo and Karel Poborský.[8] He played one more game during the tournament, raising the number of his appearances to 16, which record was then equaled a few days later by Edwin van der Sar from the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Thuram was the captain of France in the tournament. He, along with Claude Makélélé, announced his retirement from international football on 17 June 2008, after France's 2–0 loss to Italy.[9] He finished his career with the national team as France's most capped player with 142 appearances.

Retirement from professional football [edit]

Thuram still intended to pursue his club career after the Euro.[9] On 26 June 2008, he was reported as having signed a one year contract with an option for another year with Paris Saint-Germain.[10] However, the deal was cancelled shortly after because he was diagnosed with a heart defect.[11] A few days later, he announced his final retirement from professional football due to his condition.[12]

Personal life [edit]

His cousin is Troyes AC player Yohann Thuram. He played in famous guadeloupean dancehall singer, Admiral T's music video Fos A Peyi La.

He has two sons, Marcus (b. August 1997) and Kephreen (b. January 2001).

Sandra (3 June 1995 – ?) (filed for divorce) 2 children

Engaged to Karine Le Marchand Le Marchand, a French Tv host

Political engagement [edit]

Beyond his football career, Lilian Thuram has always shown political engagement. In such, during the French riots in November 2005, Thuram took a position against Nicolas Sarkozy, the head of the conservative political party UMP and then Minister of the Interior. Thuram was opposed to the verbal attacks against young people that the then-Minister made when he talked about the "scum", and he said that Nicolas Sarkozy never lived in a suburban estate.[13]

On 6 September 2006, Thuram sparked controversy when he invited 80 people, who were expelled by French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy from a flat where they lived illegally, to the football match between France and Italy.[14][15] He has also engaged in campaigns that favour the Catalan language and that favour the independence of Roussillon (Northern Catalonia) from France.[16]

In November 2011 Thuram curated an exhibition at the Musée du quai Branly entitled Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage. It examined the human zoos that traced the practice of using colonial subjects as exhibits in zoos and freak shows.[17] The material in the exhibition runs from the parade of Brazil's Tupinamba 'savages' for the royal entrance of King Henry II of France in 1550 in Rouen, to the last "living spectacle" of Congo villagers exhibited in Brussels in 1958.[18]

In January 2013, he took part in a march through Paris by supporters of the Ayrault government's plan to legalise same-sex marriage.[19] He had previously explained that he supported same-sex marriage in the name of equal rights (comparing the denial of equality for homosexuals to the denial of equal rights for women and for black people in earlier periods of history), and in the name of France's secular principles (laïcité), rejecting religious arguments against civil marriage. He also expressed support for the right of same-sex couples to adopt children.[20]

Career statistics [edit]

[21][22][23]

Club performance League Cup Other Continental Total
Season Club Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
France League Coupe de France League Cup Europe Total
1990–91 Monaco Division 1 1 0 0 0 — 0 0 1 0
1991–92 19 0 4 0 — 4 0 27 0
1992–93 37 0 2 0 — 4 0 43 0
1993–94 25 1 3 1 — 8 1 36 3
1994–95 37 2 2 0 3 1 — 42 3
1995–96 36 5 3 0 3 0 2 0 44 5
Italy League Coppa Italia Supercoppa Europe Total
1996–97 Parma Serie A 34 1 1 0 — 2 0 37 1
1997–98 32 0 6 0 — 8 0 46 0
1998–99 34 0 8 0 — 11 0 53 0
1999–2000 341 0 2 0 1 0 10 0 47 0
2000–01 30 0 8 0 — 7 0 45 0
2001–02 Juventus Serie A 30 0 3 0 — 8 0 41 0
2002–03 27 1 0 0 1 0 15 0 43 1
2003–04 23 0 4 0 0 0 5 0 32 0
2004–05 37 0 1 0 — 11 0 49 0
2005–06 27 0 4 0 0 0 8 0 39 0
Spain League Copa del Rey Supercopa Europe Total
2006–07 Barcelona La Liga 23 0 2 0 1 0 4 0 30 0
2007–08 18 0 4 0 — 6 0 28 0
Total France 155 8 14 1 6 1 18 1 193 11
Italy 308 2 37 0 2 0 85 0 432 2
Spain 41 0 6 0 1 0 10 0 58 0
Career total 504 10 57 1 9 1 113 1 683 13

1Includes one Champions League Serie A play-off match (2000).

[24]

France national team
Year Apps Goals
1994 1 0
1995 5 0
1996 13 0
1997 8 0
1998 16 2
1999 9 0
2000 14 0
2001 4 0
2002 12 0
2003 12 0
2004 9 0
2005 7 0
2006 16 0
2007 10 0
2008 6 0
Total 142 2

International Goals [edit]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 8 July 1998 Stade de France, Paris  Croatia 1–1 2–1 1998 FIFA World Cup
2. 2–1

Honours [edit]

Monaco
Parma
Juventus
Barcelona
France
Individual

References [edit]

  1. ^ Lilian Thuram. FC Barcelona. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  2. ^ Lilian Thuram (2012) (in French). Lilian Thuram, Vidéo de soutien pour l'égalité des droits (YouTube). Projet Entourage. Event occurs at 0:01. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsPzvMebsT0. Retrieved 28 January 2012. "Bonjour, je m'appelle Lilian Thuram."
  3. ^ "Juve snatch Thuram". BBC Sport. 18 June 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2010. 
  4. ^ Parma AC SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2001 (Italian)
  5. ^ "Thuram Signs Contract". FCBarcelona.cat. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2012
  6. ^ "Agreements with the Spanish club FC Barcelona" (PDF). Juventus F.C. 21 July 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  7. ^ "Thuram move ended by heart defect". BBC Sport. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2007. 
  8. ^ "Thuram sets EURO appearance record". UEFA. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  9. ^ a b "France duo call it quits". Sky Sports. 18 June 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2007. 
  10. ^ Paul Fisher (26 June 2008). "Thuram Signs With PSG". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 12 April 2012. 
  11. ^ "Thuram move ended by heart defect". BBC Sport. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2012. 
  12. ^ "Thuram retires due to heart condition". UEFA. 2 August 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2012. 
  13. ^ Bremner, Charles; Sage, Adam (10 November 2005). "Soccer heroes blame social injustice". The Times. Retrieved 2 December 2006. 
  14. ^ Bremner, Charles (7 September 2006). "Footballer plays political host". The Times. Retrieved 2 December 2006. 
  15. ^ "If you can keep a cool head". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  16. ^ "Oleguer and Thuram to present a manifesto supporting Catalan in Northern Catalonia". Avui (in Catalan). 10 March 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2008. 
  17. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (29 November 2011). "Paris show unveils life in human zoo". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2011. 
  18. ^ "Current exhibitions: Human zoos". Musée du quai Branly. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011. 
  19. ^ "Mariage pour tous : entre 125 000 et 400 000 personnes ont défilé à Paris", Agence France-Presse, 27 January 2013
  20. ^ "Mariage gay – Lilian Thuram : "Il faut préserver cette société laïque, qui pense l'égalité pour tous", Jeune Afrique, 25 January 2013
  21. ^ "Lilian Thuram career statistics". Football Database.eu. Retrieved 10 July 2012. 
  22. ^ "Lilian Thuram Serie A stats". LegaSerieA.it. Retrieved 9 February 2013. 
  23. ^ "Lilian Ulien Thuram – Matches in European Cups". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 April 2013. 
  24. ^ "Lilian Thuram – Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 June 2012.

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lilian Thuram
Authority control
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lilian_Thuram&oldid=553072414"