38 Facts About Fabien Barthez

Fabien Alain Barthez was born on 28 June 1971 and is a French racing driver and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Fabien Barthez made his first division debut for Toulouse on 21 September 1991, against Nancy.

In 1995, Fabien Barthez joined AS Monaco and won Ligue 1 titles in 1997 and 2000.

Fabien Barthez was later reunited with national teammate Laurent Blanc, who joined United in 2001.

Fabien Barthez's first season was a triumph as he answered all the questions about how he would handle rainy Manchester compared to sunny Monaco.

Fabien Barthez performed brilliantly throughout the season and became a crowd favourite.

Harte stepped up but Fabien Barthez made a low, one-handed save to his right.

The only blemish in his first season was his failed attempt at "psyching out" West Ham United's Paolo Di Canio in the FA Cup Fourth Round; Di Canio beat the offside trap, while Fabien Barthez stood still with his hand up expecting the referee to blow his whistle, or Di Canio to stop.

Consequently, in the second half of the season, Fabien Barthez repaired his reputation with consistent, solid performances and the spectacular saves that he was famous for.

Fabien Barthez was noted for playing mind games before opposition players took a penalty.

Izzet went the same way, but Fabien Barthez denied him with a fine save to his right.

An almost identical incident happened less than a year later in October 2002, when Fabien Barthez was unhappy about the awarding of a penalty to Fulham, and so went from post to post banging his boots, and refused to be in goal for the penalty.

Fabien Barthez was widely criticized in United's exit to Real Madrid in the Champions League, especially for Ronaldo's opener which beat him at the near post.

Fabien Barthez was dropped for the final three games of the season, with Roy Carroll taking his place.

Fabien Barthez began training with Marseille, who took on a portion of his wages, but FIFA initially blocked the loan deal on the grounds that it was not agreed upon within the international transfer window.

On 27 April, Marseille and Fabien Barthez agreed to a two-and-a-half-year contract which would keep him at the club until spring 2006.

Fabien Barthez was involved in a controversy during a friendly match between Marseille and Morocco's Wydad Casablanca on 12 February 2005.

On 8 August 2006, Fabien Barthez announced he was still hoping to play professional football for another two years, insisting he was looking to continue his career in the French international setup.

On 17 December 2006, Fabien Barthez announced his return to football by signing a contract with Ligue 1 side Nantes, who were lacking an experienced goalkeeper following Mickael Landreau's move to Paris Saint-Germain the previous summer.

The next day, Fabien Barthez confirmed that he had quit the team, and the club terminated his contract.

Fabien Barthez denied that he was planning to retire, and in an article for French daily L'Equipe, he said that he was looking for another contract for at least two years.

Fabien Barthez was linked with numerous clubs but nothing ever materialised and he had to face never playing professional football again.

In 2012, Fabien Barthez became the honorary president of Championnat National team Luzenac, where he personally picked Quentin Westberg and Nicolas Dieuze to sign for the club.

Fabien Barthez was well known during the tournament for letting teammate and good friend Laurent Blanc kiss his shaved head before the start of every match, supposedly for good luck.

Fabien Barthez was an integral part of his national team's inaugural triumph which made it the first time in 20 years that a host had won the World Cup.

Fabien Barthez kept five clean sheets throughout the tournament, with the only goals he conceded being a penalty in the group stage against Denmark, and another goal against Croatia in the semi-final.

Two years later, Fabien Barthez was again the starter as his country won Euro 2000.

Fabien Barthez was his nation's starting keeper throughout their victorious Confederations Cup campaign in 2003, and at Euro 2004; in the latter tournament, he saved David Beckham's penalty shot in the opening round robin match, but France went out in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Greece.

L'Equipe reported after the World Cup that Fabien Barthez would have walked out of the squad had he not been named the starter.

Fabien Barthez did redeem himself in injury time when a French defender fumbled the ball, enabling a Portuguese player to mount a last-moment attack.

Fabien Barthez scrambled out of the net and blocked the first shot.

Fabien Barthez began competing at selected events in the Porsche Carrera Cup France that year with the team SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion.

Fabien Barthez competed at two events in the THP Spider Cup.

Fabien Barthez continued to race in the FFSA GT Championship in 2010 and picked up his first podium in race 1 at Dijon-Prenois.

In February 2014, it was announced that Fabien Barthez would enter the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driving Sofrev ASP's Ferrari 458.

On 2 July 2010, after Laurent Blanc's appointment as the new manager of the France national team, Fabien Barthez was named among the team's technical staff as a goalkeeping coach.

Fabien Barthez was very quick off his line, and often acted as a sweeper-keeper, thus contributing to the evolution of the role.

Fabien Barthez became pregnant but miscarried, six months into the pregnancy.