Fabien Barthez

• 1. Introduction

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  Fabien Barthez let a teammate kiss the top of his shaved head before kickoff, a ritual meant to bring good luck to France's goalkeeper. Nicknamed Le Divin Chauve, "The Divine Bald One," Barthez turned that bare scalp into one of the most recognizable images in French sport. He remains France's most capped player in the FIFA World Cup finals, with 17 appearances. He also shares the record for most World Cup clean sheets, ten, with England's Peter Shilton. Along the way he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000, and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He also reached the final of the 2006 World Cup before walking away from international football for good. He was also a goalkeeper who dribbled past strikers, flipped off crowds, and spat on a referee. Once, he even refused to defend a penalty until an official forced him back into his goal. How did a player capable of such theatrics also become one of the most decorated goalkeepers of his generation? And where did he go once his playing days finally ran out?

• 2. Toulouse To Marseille

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  Fabien Alain Barthez was born on the 28th of June 1971 at the La Soulano hospital in Lavelanet, in the Ariège region of southern France. He was the son of Alain and Joëlle.

  Élie Baup, then Toulouse FC's head of goalkeeping, spotted Barthez during regional selections and brought him into the club's pre-academy in 1986. Baup gave him his debut in the national Cadets league, and after two successful seasons Barthez moved into the football academy run by Serge Delmas. He made his Division 1 debut for Toulouse on the 21st of September 1991, against Nancy.

  A strong performance against Marseille while playing for Toulouse made Barthez a transfer target, and he joined the club in 1992. He won both the French league and the Champions League in his first season, keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 final win over Milan. That victory made him the youngest goalkeeper to win the Champions League, a record he held until Iker Casillas matched the feat in 2000.

  Marseille, however, was stripped of that domestic title after a match-fixing scandal surfaced just days before the Champions League final. In April 1994, the club was officially relegated to Division 2 for the 1994-95 season. Barthez stayed on through that season and helped Marseille win the second-tier title, turning down offers from bigger French clubs. Promotion never followed, because the DNCG, French football's financial watchdog, ruled that Marseille's debts made it unfit to return to the top flight.

  Barthez could not risk a second season outside the top division without endangering his place on the French national team.

• 3. Monaco And Manchester United

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  In 1995, Barthez signed for Monaco, where he won Ligue 1 titles in 1997 and 2000. Playing under manager Jean Tigana, he was part of a talented Monaco side that eliminated Manchester United from the Champions League in 1998. Monaco advanced on away goals after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

  Barthez's performances at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 caught the eye of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson was searching for a goalkeeper to replace Peter Schmeichel. He did not see Mark Bosnich, Schmeichel's immediate successor, as a long-term solution, and signed Barthez for £7.8 million in 2000. He was reunited the following year with French teammate Laurent Blanc, and the pair began performing their head-kissing ritual before Champions League matches.

  Barthez's first season in England proved that he could handle Manchester's rain just as well as Monaco's sun. Fans embraced his eccentric flair: his taunting dribbles and step-overs past opposing strikers, paired with the reaction saves that became his trademark. Those saves often kept United from dropping points, and the team won the 2000-01 Premier League title, its third in a row.

  That opening season set an impossibly high bar, one that a penalty save against Leeds United's Ian Harte would test again just months later.

• 4. Turbulence At Old Trafford

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  In March 2001, Manchester United hosted Leeds United, and Barthez dropped a cross from Robbie Keane. He then kicked out at Ian Harte, who fell inside the box. The referee awarded Leeds a penalty, but Barthez dived low to his right and saved Harte's shot with one hand.

  Later that season, in the FA Cup fourth round, Barthez tried to psych out West Ham's Paolo Di Canio. He stood still with his hand raised, expecting a whistle that never came. Di Canio beat the offside trap and scored the game's only goal. He later said it was "better to score and then see whether the goalkeeper is right or wrong."

  The 2001-02 season split into two very different halves for Barthez. He was at fault for two goals in a 3-2 home defeat to Deportivo de La Coruña in October 2001. Ferguson responded with a warning: "eventually he will get caught out." The following month brought a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal's Highbury ground, where two more goals went to Thierry Henry, one from a mis-hit clearance. Already booked for arguing with Matthew Upson, Barthez was caught by television cameras raising his middle fingers at taunting Arsenal fans. Referee Peter Jones missed the gesture entirely. Commentators such as the BBC's Phil McNulty called for him to be dropped, but Ferguson stood by his goalkeeper.

  In a 2-2 draw with Derby County at Pride Park, referee Steve Dunn controversially disallowed what looked like a hat-trick goal for Derby's Malcolm Christie. Dunn ruled that Christie had kicked the ball out of Barthez's hands. Barthez also became known for gamesmanship before penalties: in November 2001 he stood aside from his goal as Leicester's Muzzy Izzet prepared to shoot. Izzet scored, but referee Andy D'Urso ordered a retake, and Barthez saved it. A similar scene played out in October 2002 against Fulham, when Barthez refused to take his position and was booked by referee Mike Dean. He then saved Steed Malbranque's penalty anyway.

  United won the Premier League again in 2002-03, and Barthez produced one standout moment. He denied Dietmar Hamann's 30-yard shot at Anfield in a 2-1 win over Liverpool. His form dipped elsewhere, though, and he drew heavy criticism for United's Champions League exit to Real Madrid. Much of the blame fell on Ronaldo's opening goal, which beat him at the near post. It proved to be his final game for the club. Ferguson dropped him for United's last three matches of the season and gave the gloves to Roy Carroll.

  Roy Carroll's emergence signaled that Barthez's Old Trafford career was coming to an end.

• 5. The Long Goodbye

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  American goalkeeper Tim Howard arrived at Manchester United in the summer of 2003. He started the club's tour of the United States while Barthez was still away on international duty. By October, Howard had won the starting job outright. United agreed to release Barthez from his contract after the 2003-04 season, loaning him back to Marseille in the meantime. FIFA initially blocked the move because it fell outside the international transfer window. The loan went through once the window reopened on the 1st of January 2004. On the 27th of April, Marseille signed Barthez to a two-and-a-half-year contract that would keep him at the club until spring 2006.

  On the 19th of May 2004, referee Pierluigi Collina sent Barthez off in first-half stoppage time during the UEFA Cup final against Valencia. Marseille lost the match 2-0.

  During a friendly against Morocco's Wydad Casablanca on the 12th of February 2005, a Marseille player was sent off and a brawl broke out on the pitch. Barthez was reported for spitting on the Moroccan referee during the chaos. The French Football Federation's disciplinary committee summoned him to a hearing on the 21st of April. He was handed a six-month suspension, with the last three months suspended. In an unusual twist, the federation's own governing council appealed, arguing the punishment was too lenient. Barthez's ban was then extended to a full six months under political pressure.

  On the 8th of August 2006, Barthez said he still hoped to keep playing for another two years. He hinted at a return to his first club, Toulouse, partly so he could care for his sick mother. He set himself a deadline of the 31st of August, and when the Toulouse return fell through, he confirmed his retirement from football on the 5th of October 2006. "The only club I wanted to go to was not so happy to have me," he said. "It happens and you have to live with it."

  On the 17th of December 2006, Barthez ended his short retirement by signing with Ligue 1 club Nantes. The club needed a goalkeeper after Mickaël Landreau's move to Paris Saint-Germain the previous summer. Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković, originally brought in to replace Landreau, had failed to impress and left the club after a rift within the squad. His time at Nantes ended abruptly on the 29th of April. Chairman Rudi Roussillon announced that Barthez had left the city with his family after an altercation with a fan. The club terminated his contract the next day. Barthez denied he was retiring and told the newspaper L'Équipe that he wanted another contract of at least two years. No club ever signed him, though, and he never played professional football again.

  In 2012, Barthez became honorary president of Championnat National club Luzenac, personally selecting goalkeepers Quentin Westberg and Nicolas Dieuze to join the team.

  None of that turmoil touched Barthez's place with France. He had already won his first cap years earlier, in a 1-0 win over Australia in May 1994.

• 6. International Glory

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  Barthez lost his starting role during Euro 1996 after testing positive for cannabis earlier that year. The positive test brought a two-month suspension and left him as understudy to Bernard Lama while France reached the semi-finals. Lama was suspended not long after the tournament, and Barthez took over the number one jersey, holding it for the next decade.

  France hosted the 1998 World Cup, and Barthez conceded only two goals across the whole tournament, seven matches in total. He won the Yashin Award as the tournament's best goalkeeper. He also finished runner-up to José Luis Chilavert for that year's IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award. Teammate Laurent Blanc kissed his shaved head before every match, a ritual the pair kept up throughout the tournament for good luck. Barthez kept five clean sheets in the tournament, conceding only a group-stage penalty against Denmark and a semi-final goal against Croatia. In the quarter-final shootout against Italy, he kept a clean sheet through normal time and saved a penalty from Demetrio Albertini. The final ended in a 3-0 win over defending champions Brazil, making France the first host nation to win the World Cup in 20 years. During that match, Barthez rushed out to challenge Brazilian forward Ronaldo with his trademark leap and step-over. The save was physical enough to injure Ronaldo, though Barthez later said he never meant to hurt him. The championship made Barthez one of the most popular players in France, second only to Zinedine Zidane.

  Two years later, Barthez started again as France won Euro 2000. It was the first time in 26 years that a national team held both the World Cup and European Championship titles at once. West Germany had last managed that feat in 1974. France then topped the FIFA World Rankings from 2001 to 2002.

  The 2002 World Cup went badly for France, who were eliminated in the first round without winning a match or scoring a goal. Barthez's only clean sheet of that tournament came in a scoreless draw with Uruguay. He started throughout France's victorious campaign at the 2003 Confederations Cup. At Euro 2004, Barthez saved a penalty from England's David Beckham in the tournament's opening match. France, though, went out in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Greece.

  France stumbled early in the group stage, drawing its first two matches, before winning the final round-robin game 2-0 to reach the knockout rounds. The team then upset a heavily favoured Spain 3-1 in the round of 16. On the 1st of July 2006, France beat Brazil 1-0, with Barthez making just one save, on an injury-time shot from Ronaldo. The result made Barthez the first goalkeeper to shut out Brazil in consecutive World Cup finals matches, following the 1998 final. France became one of only four nations, alongside Italy, Argentina, and the Netherlands, to blank Brazil twice in World Cup finals history.

  Barthez kept his fourth clean sheet of the tournament in the semi-final against Portugal, a match Zinedine Zidane won with a penalty kick. Late in the game, he spilled a free kick that Luís Figo headed over the bar unchallenged. He redeemed himself in injury time, though, blocking a shot after a French defender fumbled the ball to a Portuguese attacker. In the final against Italy, Barthez briefly captained the team in extra time after Zidane was sent off. Neither he nor Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made a save in the ensuing penalty shootout. France striker David Trezeguet missed the decisive spot kick, and the match proved to be Barthez's 87th and final appearance for his country. He retired from international football immediately afterward.

  Off the pitch, Barthez carried that same unpredictable energy into the rest of his life. It showed up in everything from his choice of jersey number to his private relationships.

• 7. Eccentricities And Endorsements

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  IFFHS' Century poll named Barthez the fourth-greatest French goalkeeper in history, ranking him behind Bernard Lama, Pierre Chayriguès, and Julien Darui. Pundits still considered him one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation, despite a build that was not especially tall for the position. His elevation, bravery, and reading of the game compensated for his height, though it still left him exposed on high balls and crosses. That shorter stature drew criticism for indecisiveness at times, even as his reflexes produced spectacular, acrobatic reaction saves. His left-footed distribution let him launch attacks with quick throws and long goal kicks from the back. He often stepped outside his penalty area and dribbled past strikers with nutmegs and step-overs, a boldness that helped shape the modern sweeper-keeper role. That same daring drew criticism, too, for stubbornness, unnecessary risk-taking, and a tendency toward lapses in concentration.

  Away from football, Barthez dated Canadian model Linda Evangelista, who became pregnant and miscarried six months into the pregnancy. The couple split in 2000, reunited in 2001, and separated for good in 2002. Barthez is a smoker and a practicing Zen Buddhist. Superstitious by nature, he wore red briefs beneath his goalkeeping shorts and cut the sleeves off his jersey. He also chose to wear the number 16, unlike most starting goalkeepers, who take the number 1.

  During his playing career, Barthez signed advertising deals with McDonald's and Adidas.

  None of those sponsorship deals hinted at the second career Barthez would build once his playing days ended, behind the wheel of a race car.

• 8. Life After The Whistle

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  Barthez retired from football in 2007 and began a motorsport career the following year. He competed at selected events in the Porsche Carrera Cup France with the team SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion. He also raced twice that year in the THP Spider Cup.

  In 2009, Barthez expanded into several series at once. He raced in the French GT Championship, the Bioracing Series, and the Caterham Sigma Cup France, alongside a continued run in the Porsche Carrera Cup France. He stayed in the FFSA GT Championship in 2010 and picked up his first podium finish in race one at Dijon-Prenois. By 2012, he had won his first race in the series, at the Circuito de Navarra, and finished seventh in the championship standings. The following year, Barthez was crowned French GT Champion alongside co-driver Morgan Moullin-Traffort, racing a Ferrari.

  That same year, 2013, Barthez also competed in the newly rebranded FIA GT Series with Gérard Tonelli, in the Gentleman Trophy class. The pair drove a GT3-spec Ferrari 458 Italia for the team SOFREV ASP. In February 2014, it was announced that Barthez would enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Ferrari 458 for the same team. He and his co-drivers finished 29th overall and ninth in the LMGTE Am class.

  In 2016, Barthez formed his own sports car racing team, Panis Barthez Compétition, with former Formula One driver Olivier Panis. Overseen by Tech 1 Racing, the team entered cars in the European Le Mans Series and the Blancpain GT Series. Barthez stepped down from the team at the end of 2019.

  On the 2nd of July 2010, after Laurent Blanc was appointed manager of the France national team, Barthez joined the technical staff as a goalkeeping coach.

  Barthez's tally of caps as France's goalkeeper stood as the national record until Hugo Lloris eventually surpassed it.