Patrick Vieira is a famous French footballer of Senegalese descent. His life was quite complicated, but nevertheless he was able to "break through." The football playerās birth date is 1976, June 23 (Dakar). In 2011, this player completed his playing career, which he spent all in the position of a midfielder. This football player has a rather interesting biography, so itās worth talking more about her.
Childhood and youth
A French footballer was born into a family of immigrants from Cape Verde, where he grew up (the date of birth was indicated above). Mom gave birth to him at the age of 17. However, the most interesting thing is that he is not the first child in the family. Then his parents already had one son. The older brother's name is Izizi Nicoro. It was difficult for the boys' mothers to look after their two sons. And itās clear why. It is hard to imagine what it is like to educate two guys at once in the conditions of African poverty. Therefore, she decided to move with her family to a suburb of Paris. At that time, Patrick Vieira was small, he was barely 8 years old. And he did not return to his homeland for a very long time - until 2003.
Patrick was a very well-mannered boy. He did not find himself in a bad company, despite the fact that they lived with their family in the dysfunctional and criminal area of āāthe town of Dreux. He fell in love with football while studying at the Lyceum. It was there that the representatives of FC Cannes noticed him. Since this all started.
The beginning of a football career
Patrick Vieira began to engage in this sport at a professional level when he was 17 years old. Two years later, at 19, he became captain of FC Cannes, whose representatives held a young player and big football. So, at this time, that is, in the summer of 1995, āMilanā showed serious interest in Patrick - one of the most famous and popular clubs in Italy. Naturally, Vieira did not refuse such a proposal.
True, once in this team, he spent most of his time in reserve. In āMilanā he stayed only a year, until 1996, and entered the field only twice in the form of āRossoneriā. And then, in 1996, the already irreplaceable Arsene Wenger became interested in him - the coach of Arsenal. He decided to buy Patrick as soon as possible, seeing in him a real talent. And the coach did not lose. Thanks to excellent physical strength, high growth and excellent endurance, Patrick Vieira settled in England for a minimum period of time. Due to qualities such as self-control and the ability to give good passes, he became an integral part of the line of attack, where Wenger included him immediately.
"Arsenal"
Vieira is such a midfielder in football, which is hard not to appreciate. The head coach of Arsenal immediately realized this, and tried to regularly release the player on the field. The first match for the new team, Patrick played on September 16, 1996. Then the āGunnersā competed with FC Sheffield Wensday.
The French midfielder in football showed himself immediately at the highest level. In a duet with Emmanuel Petit, he formed a reliable couple in the very center of the field. Thanks to this tactic, he and the club designed the āGolden Doubleā. In the 1997/98 season, he submitted to the national championship and the FA Cup.
About the behavior on the field
Everyone knows that football is an emotional, expressive game. And Vieira, being an indifferent person, especially to this sport, often committed undisciplined acts. For example, in the 2000/01 Premier League season, he was removed in two games in a row. But when he returned to the field, for 28 subsequent matches he was not shown a single card.
That season, in the game against West Ham, Patrick was removed because he ... spat on Neil Ruddock, an opponent. But that is not all! When a football player left the field, heading to the under-stands, he also managed to fight with the policeman. Of course, this did not leave anyone indifferent. So the player was fined, which amounted to more than $ 70,000, and was also disqualified for 7 games. In general, throughout his playing career, Patrick Vieira was seen many times in such situations. The biography of this person as a professional football player abounds with 12 deletions. Of these, nine times as an Arsenal midfielder, twice when he played for Juventus in Turin and one for the Internationale. But in real life, despite all the incidents, the French footballer always remained modest.
Years of success
In āArsenalā Vieira played 9 years. During this time, he achieved a lot with his club. So, for example, in 2002, Arsenal won the Golden Double again. After this season, Patrick Vieira became the team captain, because Tony Adams, the former āleaderā, decided, as they say, to hang his boots on a nail. A big responsibility fell on the footballer. This made the Frenchman more disciplined and restrained on the field. And even though he missed the final of the FA Cup in 2003, he raised the conquered trophy over his head with David Seaman (who was then vice-captain).
And in 2003/04, the English club achieved just a historic achievement. āArsenalā has never suffered a defeat. Unfortunately, at that time, Patrick Vieira dropped out of the first half of the season, because he was overtaken by an injury. But for the home match, which was held within the Champions League (then the English played against the Moscow āLocomotiveā), the Frenchman recovered and helped to win with the score 2: 0. By the end of that season, Patrick was seen as the best midfielder in the world. He began to receive offers from Chelsea, from Real Madrid. But in 2005, he moved to another team - in Turin āJuventusā.
Going to Juventus
Undoubtedly, Vieira in the āArsenalā has become a star. Therefore, it is not surprising that he became the object of attention of other, no less powerful clubs. For example, Manchester United. However, the player bought "Juventus", giving him 13.7 million pounds. Interestingly, āRealā offered an amount amounting to almost 2.5 times more money - 30 million! However, the proposal was accepted precisely from the Italians. Vieira himself says that he decided to do just that because the Londoners reacted to the possible transfer to Juventus of their player normally, neutrally.
It was decided to put the Frenchman in the center of the field. His partner in ligaments was the notorious Pavel Nedved and the Brazilian Emerson. Patrick helped his new club make the best start in the championship in the history of āOld Signoraā.
The match āirony of fateā
I would like to highlight the game that took place in the Ā¼ final of the Champions League 2005/06 season. Then āJuventusā had to play against āArsenalā - the former club of Patrick. It should be noted that Londoners have previously shown themselves at a decent level. In the first game, Patrick received a yellow card, in connection with which he did not enter the field in the return match. In a game against Londoners, Vieira received a powerful blow to the legs from his former teammate, who was also his close teammate. It was Robert Pires. Vieira was greatly annoyed. Cesc Fabregas also opened an account after a combination played by Robert. Pires then joked that this, for once, was the very case when he managed to surpass Patrick in the physical plane. By the way, āArsenalā then won in the two-match confrontation. The final score of the games was 2: 0.
The beginning of a coaching career
After a year spent with Juventus, Vieira was invited to Milan Inter. The fact is that Juventus lost two recent champion titles in the summer of 2006 and was sent to a lower division. That is, the series of V. Tom was caused by the notorious corruption scandal. Many Juventus players hastened to leave the club. Many thought that Vieira would return to Arsenal or, finally, move to Manchester United, but no. The contract with the Milan team was signed for four years. āInterā at that time was the current owner of the Scudetto. āJuventusā for the player paid 9.5 million euros. Although, as you might remember, Turinians paid a much more substantial sum for the Frenchman.
In 2011, the great football player, once (in 2007) considered the third highest paid player in the world, announced that he had decided to end his career. However, only as a player. From that moment began his coaching career. And in this regard, he proved himself worthy. In which club did he start āpromotingā football? āManchester Cityā - it was there that Patrick revealed himself as a leader. At first he was the executive director for football development, and at the end of the 2012/13 season he took the place of the head coach of the youth squad.
France national football team
A large place in the life of Patrick Vieira was occupied by his national team. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, the footballer was in the application and in the lineup, however, he was never released on the field. The team itself flew out of the Ā¼ finals.
The debut of the player took place in 1997. Then the French national football team played against the Dutch team, and it ended in victory in their favor with a score of 2: 1. After that, Vieira was included in the application for the 1998 World Cup. The event, as you know, took place in France. In this championship, Patrick played two matches. But then at the 2000 European Championships he was declared as a player of the main team. And the French team won this championship, beating the Italian national team in the final.
In 2001, the French won the Confederations Cup. Such a successful ending, in fact, the French owe Patrick. Because it was he who scored the decisive goal against the Japanese team, which made his team winners in the Cup. But unfortunately, in the championship itself, that is, a year later, the French did not manage to score a single goal.
"Promotion" to captain
In 2004, Patrick was injured and could not help his team. The French lost to Greece in the Ā¼ finals of the European Championship. After this championship, Zinedine Zidane left the national team, as a result of which the captain's armband passed to Vieira. But only until 2005, since then the ex-captain decided to return to the national team. Then Zizu decided to leave again (this time forever) and the bandage was again handed over to Patrick.
Until 2010, Vieira played as part of a national team. To the last, he helped the French team achieve achievements and left with dignity.