Fabien Alain Barthez (born 28 June 1971 in Lavelanet) is a former French footballer goalkeeper who won honours with Manchester United and the French national team, with whom he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 World Cup. He shares the record for the most World Cup finals clean sheets with Peter Shilton, with 10. In club football he won the Champions League as well as several Ligue 1 and Premier League titles.
Club career
Marseille
Born in Lavelanet, France, Barthez made his first division debut for Toulouse on 21 September 1991, against Nancy. He joined Marseille in 1992, and won both the French championship and the Champions League at the end of his first season in Marseille. The 1993 victory made him the youngest goalkeeper to win a Champions League title until Iker Casillas did so in 2000.
However, Marseille 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. He stayed with the club in Division 2 for the 1994–95 season despite many offers from elite French clubs.[1]
AS Monaco
Manchester United
As a result of Barthez's success in the World Cup and Euro, he caught the attention of Manchester UnitedAlex Ferguson, who was searching for a star goalkeeper to replace the recently departed Peter Schmeichel, as Ferguson did not think that the previous season's keeper, Mark Bosnich was a long-term replacement. Barthez joined United for £7.8 million in 2000. He was later reunited with national team-mate Laurent Blanc who joined Manchester United in 2001. The Barthez-Blanc head-kissing ritual was performed at the start of Champions League matches. manager
Well-known for being eccentric,[2] Barthez 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 it was critical saves that kept United from defeat or dropping valuable points, helping United to the 2000–01 Premier League title, their third in a row. A memorable incident happened when Manchester United faced Leeds United in March 2001. Barthez deliberately kicked out with his foot at Ian Harte, who fell to the floor, on the edge of six yard box, and the referee awarded a penalty to Leeds. Harte stepped up but Barthez made an excellent low one-handed save to his right. The only blemish in his first season was his failed attempt at "psyching out" West Ham United's Paolo Di Canio in the FA Cup 4th Round. Di Canio beat the offside trap, while Barthez stood still with his hand up expecting the referee to blow his whistle, or Di Canio to stop. Di Canio continued and scored the only goal of the game.
The 2001–02 season was split into two parts for him. 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 unneeded goals for opposing teams. He was at fault for two goals in a home defeat by Deportivo La Coruña in October 2001,[3] Another couple of errors against Arsenal the following month put much pressure on Barthez. 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.
He was also noted for playing mind games before opposition players took a penalty. The first time this occurred was in November 2001 when Leicester City came to Old Trafford. As Muzzy Izzet prepared to take a penalty, Barthez stood aside from the goal, with his hands behind him on the post. Izzet, tired of waiting, slotted the ball in the bottom corner, but the referee made him retake the penalty, this time with Barthez in goal. Izzet went the same way, but Barthez denied him with a fine save to his right. An almost identical incident happened less than a year later in October 2002, when Barthez was unhappy about the awarding of a penalty to Fulham, and so stood at the post and refused to be in goal for the penalty. This time he was booked for his antics, and so he then he took his place between the posts and made it work again by saving Steed Malbranque's spot kick.
The 2002–2003 season ended with another Premier League crown for United. The season was a mixed bag for Barthez. One highlight was a fabulous save to deny Dietmar Hamann's 30-yard rocket at Anfield as United held on to win 2–1. In other games, he let goals go past him that shouldn't have. Barthez was also widely criticized in United's exit to Real Madrid in the Champions League, especially for Ronaldo's opener which beat him at the near post.[4] 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 three games of the season, with Roy Carroll taking his place.
Return to 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 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 Marseille soon afterwards. On 27 April, 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 during a friendly match between OM and Morocco's Wydad Casablanca on 12 February 2005.[5] 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.
Retirement
On 8 August 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 5 October 2006 it was confirmed that he had 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."[6]
Comeback
On 17 December 2006, Barthez announced his return to football by signing a contract with French Ligue 1FC Nantes Atlantique,[7] who were lacking an experienced goalkeeper following Mickaël Landreau's move to Paris Saint-Germain the previous summer. Serb goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković, originally recruited to replace Landreau, failed to impress and left Nantes at the winter break following a rift within the squad. side
On 29 April, Nantes chairman Rudi Roussillon announced that following an altercation with a Nantes fan, Barthez had left the city with his family. The next day, Barthez confirmed that he had quit the team,[8] and the club terminated his contract. Barthez denied that he was planning to retire, and in an article for French daily L'Équipe, he said that he was looking for another contract for at least two years. Since then Barthez has been linked with numerous clubs but nothing has ever materialised and he has had to face never playing professional football again
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