Barthez Fabien
Fabien Alain Barthez is a French former football goalkeeper and racing driver. At club level, he played football in both France and England with Toulouse, Marseille, AS Monaco, Manchester United, and Nantes. At international level, he represented the France national team, with whom he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000, and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, representing his nation at a total of three editions of both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship; he also reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, after which he retired from international football. Nicknamed Le Divin Chauve (“The Divine Bald One”), due to his trademark shaved head, Barthez is France’s most capped player in the FIFA World Cup, with 17 appearances at the finals and shares the record for the most World Cup finals clean sheets with Peter Shilton, with ten.[4][5] In club football, he won the UEFA Champions League with Olympique Marseille in 1993 as well as several Ligue 1 and Premier League titles. After retiring from football in 2007, Barthez began a career in motorsport in 2008.
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During the Kirin Cup 94 Barthez made his debut with France National Team on 26 May 1994 against Australia. Though Barthez was understudy to Bernard Lama at UEFA Euro 1996 – at which France reached the semi-finals – he gained the number one goalkeeping position shortly afterwards and would not relinquish it for a decade.
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Well known for being eccentric, 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 FA 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 ground on the edge of six yard box, and the referee awarded a penalty to Leeds. Harte stepped up but Barthez made a 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 Fourth 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,[9][10] and later said it was “better to score and then see whether the goalkeeper is right or wrong”.
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Barthez joined United for £7.8 million in 2000. He was later reunited with national teammate Laurent Blanc, who joined United in 2001. The Barthez–Blanc head-kissing ritual was performed at the start of Champions League matches. Well known for being eccentric, 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 FA Premier League title, their third in a row.
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The second full season of the new millennium was rather dismal for the Red Devils in comparison to the previous three years. The club finished in third place in the Premier League, their lowest finish in the history of the Premier League, and they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round. League Cup success was not expected, and the club duly obliged by playing what was effectively a reserve team against a strong Arsenal side in the third round. United’s best success in the 2001–02 season came in the UEFA Champions League, in which they reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen on away goals. Ultimately, United’s failure to win anything boiled down a dismal run of form in November and early December when they suffered five defeats in seven league games, including three defeats in a row against Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham United in December. They also lost six home games in the Premier League, their worst home record since the 1977–78 season.
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Rated by pundits as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, in his prime, Barthez was considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and is regarded as one of the best French players ever in his position, being named the fourth greatest French goalkeeper of all time in IFFHS’ Century elections, behind Bernard Lama, Pierre Chayriguès, and Julien Darui. Standing at 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in), he was not particularly tall for a goalkeeper, although he was extremely athletic, and was known for his elevation, as well as his decision-making and commitment when coming out to collect the ball, which enabled him to command his area effectively in spite of his short stature; however, at times he was still caught out on high balls due to his lack of height, and he also came under criticism on occasion for his indicisiveness when struggling to deal with crosses. A flamboyant and instinctive keeper, he was also extremely agile, and possessed excellent reflexes, which enabled him to produce spectacular, acrobatic, and decisive reaction saves; he also possessed a good positional sense. In addition to his shot-stopping abilities, Barthez was also known to be a passionate, popular, and highly recognisable footballing figure, who stood out for his outgoing personality, self-assurance, and composure under pressure, as well as his leadership from the back and authoritative presence in goal. Furthermore, Barthez was highly regarded for his exceptional skills with the ball at his feet, as well as his accurate distribution with his left foot, which enabled him to play the ball out from the back or launch an attack with his quick throws or long goal kicks; his confidence in possession often led him to be involved in the build-up of plays, and he often operated outside the penalty area, and would even occasionally attempt to dribble with the ball past opposing strikers with feints such as nutmegs or stepovers. He was also very quick off his line, and often acted as a sweeper-keeper, thus contributing to the evolution of the role. While he received plaudits for his goalkeeping ability in the media, throughout his career Barthez also frequently came under criticism from pundits for his stubbornness, and his aggressive, unorthodox, and eccentric style of play, as well as for taking unnecessary risks, and was also deemed to be inconsistent, unreliable, and prone to errors and lapses in concentration.
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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 have been 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.” On 17 December 2006, Barthez announced his return to football by signing a contract with Ligue 1 side Nantes, who were lacking an experienced goalkeeper following Mickaël Landreau’s move to Paris Saint-Germain the previous summer. Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković, originally recruited to replace Landreau, failed to impress and left Nantes at the winter break following a rift within the squad. 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, 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 had to face never playing professional football again.
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After retiring from football in 2007, Barthez began a career in motorsport in 2008. He began competing at selected events in the Porsche Carrera Cup France that year with the team SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion. He also competed at two events in the THP Spider Cup. In 2009, he raced in a number of various motorsport series such as the French GT Championship, Bioracing Series and the Caterham Sigma Cup France as well as the Porsche Carrera Cup France. He continued to race in the FFSA GT Championship in 2010 and picked up his first podium in race 1 at Dijon-Prenois. In the 2012 season, he won his first race in the FFSA series at the Circuito de Navarra in race two and finished seventh in the championship. In 2013, he was crowned French GT Champion alongside Morgan Moullin-Traffort, driving a Ferrari. In 2013, he also competed in the newly re-branded FIA GT Series alongside Gérard Tonelli in the Gentleman Trophy class with SOFREV ASP driving a GT3-spec Ferrari 458 Italia. In February 2014, it was announced that Barthez would be entered into the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving Sofrev ASP’s Ferrari 458. Barthez and his co-drivers finished 29th overall and ninth in LMGTE Am class.