Pascal Vahirua

Pascal Vahirua

Personal information
Date of birth	(1966-03-09) 9 March 1966
Place of birth	Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Winger
Youth career
	Mateiea
	Vataka
1982–1985	Auxerre
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1985–1995	Auxerre	287	(53)
1995–1999	Caen	74	(4)
1999–2001	Atromitos
2001–2002	Tours	11	(1)
2002–2005	Stade Auxerrois
2005	Auxerre (reserves)
National team
1990–1994	France	22	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Pascal Vahirua (born 9 March 1966 in Papeete, French Polynesia) is a retired French footballer of Tahitian descent, who played mostly as a left winger.

His career was intimately connected with AJ Auxerre. Vahirua appeared for the French national team at Euro 1992.

Club career

Discovered by legendary club manager Guy Roux, who was vacationing in Tahiti, Vahirua moved to AJ Auxerre's youth academy in 1982, aged 16. He went on to amass nearly 400 official appearances for the club in nine full professional seasons, although he made his Ligue 1 debut on 25 September 1984, in a 3–1 home success against Stade Brestois 29.

During the 90's, speedy Vahirua was part of a solid team whose offensive unit also included striker Gérald Baticle, winger Christophe Cocard and midfielder Corentin Martins, reaching the semifinals of the 1992–93 UEFA Cup, lost on penalties to Borussia Dortmund; he left the club in 1995 – precisely the year the club would go on to conquer an historic double – with only the 1994 French Cup to his credit.

In the following seven seasons, Vahirua represented SM Caen, Atromitos F.C. in Greece and Tours FC, professionally retiring in 2002. He still played amateur football for three more years in the city of Auxerre, with neighbours Stade Auxerrois and AJ's reserves, after which he took charge of football development in the area, which he accumulated with the club's youth sides.

International career

Vahirua gained his first cap for France on 21 January 1990, in a friendly home with Kuwait (1–0), and scored his only goal in another friendly, against Belgium in preparation for the UEFA Euro 1992 (3–3), on 25 March.

Summoned for the final stages by the coach who also gave him his debut, Michel Platini, Vahirua played twice in an eventual group stage exit, and was also part of the nation's infamous 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, with two home losses in the final two rounds.

With a total of 22 internationals, Vahirua was the first Polynesian ever to don the French shirt.

Honours

• Auxerre:
  • French Cup: 1993–94
  • Gambardella Cup: 1985
  • French Third Division: 1985–86

Personal

Vahirua is cousin to another footballer (and winger), Marama Vahirua. He was brought up in another famed academy in France, FC Nantes, appearing professionally for the club from 1999–2004.

External links

• French Football Federation profile (French)
• AJ Auxerre statistics (French)
• AJ Auxerre archives (French)
• Pascal Vahirua at National-Football-Teams.com