Behind a World Cup record: Fabien Barthez

• Fabien Barthez did not concur a idea in 10 of a 17 FIFA World Cupâ„¢ matches in that he played
• The Frenchman shares a record for a top series of purify sheets in a competition, with England’s Peter Shilton 
• “I never walked out on to a representation with a idea of violence records,” pronounced a male they call Le Divin Chauve (“The Divine Bald One”)

One of a biggest goalkeepers in a story of French football, Fabien Barthez seemed during 3 FIFA World Cupâ„¢ competitions, lifting a Trophy in 1998 and reaching a Final again in 2006. In all, he done 17 appearances during a biggest contest of them all, a French record, gripping no fewer than 10 purify sheets in a process.

The player 
Born in 1971, Barthez done a Bleus No1 jersey his in a lead-up to France 1998, approval that had come a small late for a actor who had starred for several seasons with Marseille and afterwards Monaco though found himself customarily behind Bernard Lama in a pecking order. 

Barthez done his symbol during his really initial World Cup, combining an critical partial of a challenging counterclaim that gave divided customarily dual goals en track to apropos universe champions. A UEFA EURO 2000 winner, he was on avocation when Les Bleus crashed out in a organisation proviso during Korea/Japan 2002. The screw helped them rebound behind 4 years later, as they went all a approach to a Final during Germany 2006, where they mislaid on penalties to Italy. The 87th top of Barthez’s career was his last, as he announced his retirement from general football. 

Flamboyant, ardent and never frightened to take a risk or dual with a round during his feet, Barthez was one of a excellent goalkeepers of his era.

The record
In confronting down a challenging Brazil conflict in a Final during France 1998 and winning all his duels opposite Seleção spearhead Ronaldo, Barthez kept another purify piece to top a contest in that he conceded customarily dual goals in 7 matches: opposite Denmark from a mark in a organisation proviso and opposite Croatia in a semi-final. 

The customarily purify piece he kept during Korea/Japan 2002 was in a goalless pull opposite Uruguay, that came in between a 1-0 better to Senegal and a 2-0 detriment to a Danes, as a fortifying champions fell during a initial hurdle. Barthez went dominant in 4 matches during Germany 2006: in a 0-0 pull with Switzerland, a 2-0 better of Togo and 1-0 wins over Brazil and Portugal. He was though eclipsed during a contest by Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, who kept 5 purify sheets and went on to lift a Trophy.

The memories
“Ah no, not during all. What are 10 matches anyway?” he replied with prevalent insouciance when asked by FIFA.com if he was wakeful of a reason for a interview. “It’s something that never crossed my mind. we never walked out on to a representation with a idea of violence records. But when it came to not surrender a goal, well, that was my aim each Sunday (laughs).

“It’s customarily a goalkeeper who gets all a credit for annals like that, though we consider it’s all down to a group when we don’t concede. It’s like when a striker scores – there’s a whole lot of work that goes into it. we always like to make that point.”

“When you’ve got (Laurent) Blanc and (Marcel) Desailly in a centre of counterclaim and (Lilian) Thuram and (Bixente) Lizarazu on a flanks… They were a best players in their positions during a time. That was a clever point. In 2006, we had Thuram and (William) Gallas in a middle, and (Willy) Sagnol and (Eric) Abidal out wide. That wasn’t bad, though to my mind it wasn’t utterly adult there with a 1998 defence, that was one of a many plain in a story of French football, if we ask me.

“The midfield was really plain too, and we also had Stephane Guivarc’h, who did an extraordinary pursuit adult front. The experts knew customarily what he brought to a team, though everybody was not utterly so aware. He ran his hosiery off for a team. He harried hostile defences a whole time and done it tough for them to play a round behind out. That’s since he lacked sharpness whenever chances came his way. But during a finish of a day, it was also down to him that we won.

“There was a quarter-final opposite Italy, that was flattering tough and that went to penalties. My save from (Demetrio) Albertini wasn’t such a large deal, since to my mind a chastisement saved by a screw is a badly taken penalty.

“In a Final there was that famous occurrence with Ronaldo, that was a branch indicate of a match. Long balls like that are a hardest thing for a screw to understanding with. It’s a split-second thing, one approach or a other. If we hadn’t come out, he’d have been by on goal, and if I’d come out too late, we could have done a outrageous mistake. we have a outrageous volume of honour for Ronaldo and we did all we could not to harm him.”

Article source: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2017/m=7/news=behind-the-world-cup-record-fabien-barthez-2900993.html