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Grégory Coupet
 |
Personal information |
Date of birth |
December 31,
1972 (1972-12-31) (age 37) |
Place of birth |
Le
Puy-en-Velay, France |
Height |
1.81 m
(5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) |
Playing position |
Goalkeeper |
Club information |
Current club |
Paris Saint Germain |
Number |
1 |
Youth career |
|
Olympique Le
Puy |
Senior career* |
Years |
Team |
Apps
(Gls)† |
|
1993–1997 |
Saint-Étienne |
088 00(0) |
|
1997–2008 |
Lyon |
357 00(0) |
|
2008–2009 |
Atlético
Madrid |
0 8 00(0) |
|
2009– |
Paris Saint Germain |
015 00(0) |
|
National team‡ |
2001– |
France |
034 00(0) |
|
*
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league
only and correct as of September 4, 2009.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of June 17, 2008 |
Grégory Coupet (born December 31, 1972 in Le
Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire) is a French football goalkeeper currently playing for Paris Saint Germain in France.
Club
career
Coupet began his club career with hometown team Club Olympique
Le Puy, before going pro with Saint-Étienne in 1994. He made his Ligue 1 debut on March 26, 1994
in a 2-0 victory against Angers.[1] After
three seasons, he surprisingly moved to league rival Lyon (the
two cities are only 80 kilometers apart, and are long-time local
and national rivals). His gamble paid off as Lyon have regularly
dominated Le Championnat
since 2002 and are also a regular fixture in the UEFA
Champions League.
Coupet performed a memorable double save against Barcelona during an
UEFA
Champions League 2001-02 match, when he first acrobatically
headed an unintended lob by a defender to his own crossbar, and
then immediately parried a close header by the arriving Barcelona
striker Rivaldo.[2][3]
He openly wept during the group photo before France faced Turkey in a 2003
Confederations Cup semifinal match, which had taken place just
hours after the shocking death of his close friend and former Lyon
teammate Marc-Vivien Foé.[4] Coupet
credits the aftermath of Foe's death in helping him gain a new
perspective on life, in the process settling his differences with
Lyon after having been engaged in nasty contract imbroglios for
most of the 2002-03 season, which included at one point his vowing
never to play for the club again.
In 2005, Coupet was voted for the first time, at age 33, into
the top 10 for the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper Award. He
finished with 43 votes, fourth behind winner Petr Čech, Dida, and Gianluigi Buffon, respectively. He has
also twice been named Ligue 1 Keeper of the Year, in 2004 and
2005.[5]
On August 2, 2007, Coupet suffered a torn internal medial
ligament in his left knee after catching his foot in the net during
a training session. He underwent surgery four days later and missed
the remainder of 2007, including France's final Euro
2008 qualifiers. He later joked on Lyon's official television
network:
"The good side...is that [France] have a rugby World Cup
coming and I’ll be able to enjoy every bit of it."[6]
Coupet returned to the squad in the new year making his return
in Lyon's 4-0 victory over Ligue
2 side Créteil in the Coupe de France
on January 6, 2008.[7] Since
his return, he has played all of Lyon's matches; including the
Champions League games against Manchester United.
Atlético
Madrid
On Friday, May 23, 2008, Coupet announced that he would be
playing his final game for Lyon in the French Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain.[8] After
several weeks of uncertainty, it was officially confirmed by Atlético
Madrid on July 7, 2008, that Coupet would continue his career
at the Spanish club, signing a contract for two seasons and signed
for €1.5 million.
Paris Saint
Germain
Coupet did not play much with Atlético, which resulted in his
move to Paris Saint-Germain of Ligue 1.[9][10] On 28
November 2009, Coupet suffered from a freak, potentially
career-ending injury after failing to clear a loose ball.
International career
Coupet has 34 caps with France. He made his
international debut against Australia during France's 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup-winning
campaign. He was called up for the 2002 FIFA World Cup as the backup
to Fabien
Barthez, but did not play. The following year, Coupet kept
three clean sheets and conceded only three goals in five games as
France won the 2003 Confederations Cup, which marked their second
victory in the competition in three years.
In February 2006, France Football magazine conducted a
poll among its readers as to who should be France's first-choice
goalie for the World Cup; Coupet received 69 percent of the votes
(Barthez received 28 percent).[11]
Though Coupet started six of 10 games in the 2006 FIFA
World Cup qualifying rounds, coach Raymond Domenech surprisingly elected
Barthez as his number one, which would relegate Coupet to the bench
once again. Many had expected Coupet to be chosen as the starter
due to his excellent performances with Olympique
Lyonnais that had contributed greatly to their streak of five
Ligue 1 championships. This ultimately led to a row on May 25, 2006
between Coupet and Domenech that resulted in Coupet storming out of
the team's training camp in Tignes with his family in tow, but he later
returned and made amends with the coach.[12]
Coupet became France's number one after Barthez announced his
retirement from both club and country football in August 2006. His
first regular stint - currently during the Euro 2008
qualifiers - however, got off to a less-than-desired start; France
were upset by Scotland 1-0 on October 7, and a hand injury suffered
in that match kept him out of France's 5-0 victory over the Faroe Islands four
days later.
He was first choice goalkeeper for Euro 2008, conceding six
goals in three matches as France were eliminated in the group
stage.
In the current FIFA 2010 World
Cup qualifiers, Hugo
Lloris and Steve Mandanda have been favored by
Coach Domenech for the keeping job, with Coupet called-up as a
reserve for a few games.
Honours
Lyon
- Ligue 1 - 2002, 2003,
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
- Trophée Des
Champions - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008
- Coupe de
la Ligue - 2001
- UEFA
Intertoto Cup - 1997
- Peace Cup: 2007
- Coupe de
France: 2008
France
References
External
links