Bixente Lizarazu

Bixente Jean-Michel Lizarazu (Basque pronunciation: [biˈʃente lis̻aˈɾas̻u]) (born 9 December 1969) is a French former professional footballer who played for Bordeaux and Bayern Munich, among other teams, as a left back. He also had 97 caps for the French national team.

Bixente Lizarazu
Lizarazu in 2011
Personal information
Full name Bixente Jean-Michel Lizarazu[1]
Date of birth (1969-12-09) 9 December 1969
Place of birth Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position(s) Left back
Youth career
1977–1984 Les Églantins Hendaye
1984–1988 Bordeaux
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1989 Bordeaux B 43 (10)
1988–1996 Bordeaux 246 (22)
1996–1997 Athletic Bilbao 16 (0)
1997–2004 Bayern Munich 151 (7)
2004 Marseille 14 (0)
2005–2006 Bayern Munich 31 (0)
Total 501 (39)
National team
1992–2004 France 97 (2)
1993 Basque Country[2] 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

In a twelve-year international career from 1992 to 2004, Lizarazu played in three European championships and two World Cups for France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.

Club career

Bordeaux

An enthusiast in several sports from a young age,[3][4] Lizarazu began his professional career with Girondins de Bordeaux, joining the club's youth setup as a 15-year-old in 1984 and initially playing as a winger.[3][4] After being told he would not make a career from football due to his frail physicality as a teenager,[4] he impressed the staff with his determination and became a member of the senior squad in 1988[3] alongside forward Christophe Dugarry. He was retrained to play as a counter-attacking left back at the suggestion of coach Didier Couécou[4] and soon replaced the veteran Gernot Rohr (later to be the club's manager) in the position.[3]

In 1990 Bordeaux finished runners-up in the French championship, but the following year they were administratively relegated amid financial problems.[3][4] Lizarazu remained with the club and helped them immediately regain their top tier status in 1992.[3] The club also signed Zinedine Zidane, who became another important element of the team,[4] which went on to achieve two 4th- and a 7th-place finish over the next three seasons, Lizarazu contributing 101 appearances and 15 goals.

In summer 1995, Bordeaux won the Intertoto Cup[5] to qualify for the 1995–96 UEFA Cup. They would go all the way to the final under coach Rohr, beating Real Betis, A.C. Milan[5] and Slavia Prague before losing to Bayern Munich 5–1 on aggregate.[3][5] However their league form suffered, dropping to 16th.[4] Following UEFA Euro 1996, in which Dugarry, Zidane and Lizarazu were part of the French squad which reached the semi-finals,[5] the three moved abroad seeking a new challenge: Zidane joining Juventus, Dugarry going to Milan[4] and Lizarazu staying local but changing nations by moving to Athletic Bilbao, based the same distance from his home in the French Basque Country as Bordeaux.[6] He appeared 299 times for his formative club, scoring 28 goals.

Athletic Bilbao

Lizarazu spent just one season with the La Liga club after becoming the first Frenchman to play for Athletic,[3][7] which has a policy of selecting only players of Basque birth or heritage.[8]

Suffering from a persistent groin injury,[4] he was unable to displace the experienced Aitor Larrazábal at left back, received two red cards among the 16 league appearances he did make, and had disagreements with the head coach, compatriot Luis Fernández.[3] In the 1997 close season, he transferred to Bayern Munich.[4]

Bayern Munich

Before even playing a Bundesliga match, Lizarazu lifted a trophy with his new club, winning the inaugural edition of the preseason DFL-Ligapokal.[3] It was the start of a highly successful spell in Bavaria,[9] despite the interruption of some serious injuries,[3] as he went on to win six Bundesliga championships (including three in a row between 1999 and 2001), as well as five DFB-Pokals, the Champions League in 2001[3] (scoring his penalty in the shootout),[10] and the Intercontinental Cup.[9][3] On winning the Intercontinental Cup in 2001, he became the first player to be a current European and World champion in both club and international football.

Lizarazu said that he would leave Bayern in the summer of 2004 and eventually signed with Olympique Marseille.[3] However, after only six months back in France, he returned to Bayern Munich in January 2005.[3] During his second spell with Bayern, ending in 2006 when he gave way to the emerging Phillipp Lahm,[3] Lizarazu wore the shirt number 69; clarifying that it was not a lewd gesture, he said this was because he was born in 1969, his height is 1.69 m and he weighed 69 kg.[11] He made 268 appearances in all competitions for Bayern between 1997 and 2006, scoring eight goals.[12] 183 of these games were in the German top-flight.[13]

International career

Lizarazu was capped 97 times for France (for the first time on 14 November 1992 against Finland),[14] scoring two goals, and helped them win the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000, starting in the final of both tournaments.[9] He retired from international football after France were surprisingly eliminated by eventual winners Greece at Euro 2004.[3]

Personal life

After retirement, Lizarazu got involved in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He competed in a jiu-jitsu competition in Europe in 2009, where he became European champion in the Blue Belt Senior 1 Light Division.[15][16] He is also a keen surfer[4] and works as a football pundit for French television and radio.[17] In 2013, Lizarazu was described as a "tramp" by his successor as France's left back, Patrice Evra, after he and other pundits criticised Evra for giving an impromptu team talk during half-time of a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Belarus.[18]

Beside his mother tongue Basque, Lizarazu is able to speak French, Spanish, German, and English.

Career statistics

Club
Club performance[19][20][21][22] League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
1988–89Girondins de BordeauxDivision 116010––00170
1989–9038240––––422
1990–9135210––60422
1991–92Division 233030––––360
1992–93Division 135430––––384
1993–9432930––60419
1994–95322211040393
1995–962330000175408
Spain League Copa del Rey — Europe Total
1996–97Athletic BilbaoLa Liga16020––––180
Germany League DFB-Pokal Ligapokal Europe Total
1997–98Bayern MunichBundesliga190302020240
1998–99192510090333
1999–20002211000100331
2000–011501000100260
2001–02251100014[23]0401
2002–03262500030342
2003–04261100080351
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
2004–05Olympique MarseilleLigue 11400010––150
Germany League DFB-Pokal Ligapokal Europe Total
2004–05Bayern MunichBundesliga130200040190
2005–06180201060260
Total France 258221712033531028
Spain 16020––––180
Germany 1837211306602738
Career total 457294025099560136

International
France national team
YearApps[24]Goals
199210
199360
199450
199551
199690
199740
1998131
199960
2000120
2001100
200270
2003120
200470
Total972

International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 15 November 1995[25] Stade Michel d'Ornano, Caen, France  Israel
2–0
2–0
 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
2. 18 June 1998[26] Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  Saudi Arabia
4–0
4–0
 1998 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Bordeaux[9]

Bayern Munich[9][27]

France[27]

Individual

Orders

  • Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur: 1998[31]
gollark: I would, but they're quite expensive.
gollark: Sorry, transient network bees.
gollark: It's *technically possible* to make somewhat repairable phones, it's just... unfortunately not something the majority of users care about, so it's mostly confined to niche products like pinephones and fairphones.
gollark: Manufacturers tend to limit authorized technician stuff a lot and/or overcharge massively.
gollark: Okay? I'd like to be able to, and I'd like it to be possible without expensive specialized equipment.

References
  1. "Entreprise Le Truc Rouge à Ciboure (64500)" [Company Le Truc Rouge in Ciboure (64500)]. Figaro Entreprises (in French). Société du Figaro. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
    "Bixente Lizarazu". BFM Business (in French). Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  2. "Euskadi 3–1 Bolivia" (in Spanish). Euskadiko Futbol Federakundea. 22 December 1993. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  3. "Bixente Lizarazu" (in French). Kurbos's Blog at Skyrock. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  4. "Bixente Lizarazu: "J'ai fait partie des premiers arrières latéraux modernes"" [Bixente Lizarazu: "I was one of the first modern full backs"]. Les cahiers du Football (in French). 21 December 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  5. "Zinedine Zidane's amazing 11-month Uefa Cup odyssey". Goal. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  6. "Lizarazu, le Basque qui veut jouer au pays. L'arrière des Bleus quitte Bordeaux pour Bilbao: "dans ma tête, ce n'est pas l'étranger."" [Lizarazu, the Basque who wants to play in the country. The back of the Blues left Bordeaux for Bilbao: "in my head, it is not abroad."] (in French). Libération. 25 June 1996. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  7. "The French Basque Country: a rugby heartland with world-class footballers". The Guardian. 8 December 2014.
  8. "This is Athletic Bilbao: the club whose loyalty to local talent is not negotiable". The Guardian. 15 January 2016.
  9. "Bixente Lizarazu". UEFA. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  10. "Bayern crowned European champions". BBC Sport. 23 May 2001. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  11. Bandini, Paolo; Bass, Ian; Dart, James (27 September 2006). "Have any footballers ever admitted moving for the money?". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
  12. Arnhold, Matthias (1 September 2016). "Germany - Player Data - FC Bayern München". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  13. Arnhold, Matthias (7 November 2019). "Bixente Lizarazu - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  14. "Bixente LIZARAZU" (in French). fff.fr. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  15. "NomeFaixaIdadePesoColocacaoAcademia". Ibjjf.org. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  16. Uztarroz, Gorka. "The journey of a soccer World Champion to European BJJ Champion". Jits. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  17. ""Bixente!"". French Football Weekly. 11 September 2011.
  18. "France's Patrice Evra told to explain why Bixente Lizarazu is a 'tramp'". The Guardian. 21 October 2013.
  19. "LIZARAZU (Bixente Lizarazu) – Retired football (soccer) player from France". Footballdatabase.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  20. "Lizarazu, Bixente" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  21. "Bixente Lizarazu" (in French). footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  22. Haisma, Marcel (7 November 2019). "Bixente Lizarazu - Matches in European Cups". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  23. Includes 1 appearance in 2001 UEFA Super Cup, 1 appearance in 2001 Intercontinental Cup
  24. Pla Diaz, Emilio (7 November 2019). "Bixente Lizarazu - International Appearances". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  25. "Match – France – Israel" (in French). fff.fr. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  26. "Match – France – Arabie Saoudite" (in French). fff.fr. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  27. "Bixente Lizarazu" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  28. Karel Stokkermans (14 March 2007). "ESM XI". RSSSF. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  29. "Team of the Year 2001". UEFA. 3 January 2002. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  30. Leme de Arruda, Marcelo (20 October 2015). "FIFA XI´s Matches – Full Info". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  31. "Décret du 24 juillet 1998 portant nomination à titre exceptionnel" [Decree of 24 July 1998 appointing on an exceptional basis]. Journal Officiel de la République Française (in French). 1998 (170): 11376. 25 July 1998. PREX9801916D. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
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