78 Facts About Franck Ribery

Franck Henry Pierre Ribery is a French professional footballer who plays for and captains Serie A club Salernitana.

Franck Ribery primarily plays as a winger, preferably on the left side, and is known for his pace, energy, skill, and precise passing.

Franck Ribery's career began in 1989 as a youth player for local hometown club Conti Boulogne.

Franck Ribery left the club after seven years to join professional outfit Lille, but departed the club after three years after having difficulties adjusting.

Franck Ribery spent two seasons at the club, helping the Marseillais reach the final of the Coupe de France in back-to-back seasons.

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Franck Ribery left Bayern in summer 2019, and subsequently joined Italian side Fiorentina, while Robben retired from football.

Franck Ribery played at two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships.

Individually, Franck Ribery is a three-time winner of the French Player of the Year award and won the German award of Footballer of the Year, becoming the first player to hold both honours.

Franck Ribery has been named to the UEFA Team of the Year and declared the Young Player of the Year in France.

Franck Ribery was born on 7 April 1983 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais and raised in a low-income neighbourhood on the fringes of the city.

Franck Ribery began his football career at age six playing in the youth section of amateur club FC Conti de Boulogne-sur-Mer.

In 2012, during a press conference ahead of Bayern Munich's Champions League tie against his former club Lille, Franck Ribery explained that he was released from the Lille academy after suffering a broken elbow and that Lille officials had previously wanted to drop him from the academy for being "too small".

Franck Ribery only made four appearances in his debut season as Boulogne, who were playing in the CFA, the fourth division of French football, earned promotion to third-tier Championnat National.

The resulting news led to Franck Ribery signing with Stade Brest, another Championnat National club.

At Brest, Franck Ribery established himself as a premier player in the league appearing in 35 league matches scoring three goals.

Franck Ribery's dream came to fruition when Metz's manager Jean Fernandez took a liking to him and recruited him on a free transfer.

Franck Ribery only spent half a season at Metz, but impressed earning the UNFP Player of the Month in August 2004.

At Galatasaray, Franck Ribery was brought in by manager Gheorghe Hagi and appeared in 14 league matches as the club finished in third-place position.

Franck Ribery scored the opening goal in the 16th minute and assisted on another goal.

On 15 June 2005, Franck Ribery announced that he would be returning to France joining Ligue 1 club Marseille on a five-year contract, plus reuniting with former manager Jean Fernandez.

Franck Ribery argued that he had not been paid his wages by the club and asked FIFA, the sport's governing body, to invalidate his contract.

Franck Ribery confirmed that, at one point during the season, he was threatened with a baseball bat by his former agent and a Galatasaray director.

In July 2005, FIFA ruled in favour of Franck Ribery and dismissed Galatasaray's claims of the player being at fault.

Two weeks later, Franck Ribery netted goals in back-to-back matches in victories over his former club Metz and Nice.

In Europe, Franck Ribery scored two goals in the UEFA Intertoto Cup against Italian club Lazio and Spanish outfit Deportivo de La Coruna.

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Franck Ribery was later named the National Union of Professional Footballers Young Player of the Year.

Franck Ribery went as far as to accuse Ribery's former agent, Bruno Heiderscheid, of badly advising the player.

The resulting injury meant Franck Ribery was out for a number of weeks, returning following the winter break.

The following month, Franck Ribery suffered a fractured foot in a match against Toulouse.

Franck Ribery was given the number 7 shirt, which was freed up due to the retirement of midfielder Mehmet Scholl at the end of the previous season.

Franck Ribery netted his first goal in the competition on 27 February 2008 in Bayern's win over inner-city rivals 1860 Munich, with Ribery converting the lone goal, a penalty, in the final minute of extra time.

In total, Franck Ribery appeared in 46 matches scoring 16 goals and assisting on 17 goals as Bayern won the league and cup double.

Franck Ribery was named French Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Franck Ribery was shortlisted by the French magazine France Football for the 2008 Ballon d'Or award, won by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Franck Ribery ended the season with 36 total appearances scoring 14 goals and providing 19 assists.

Franck Ribery subsequently appeared in the match as a substitute in the 61st minute.

Franck Ribery scored his first goal of the campaign in the team's next league match against Hamburger SV.

The goal resulted in Franck Ribery scoring in every official competition Bayern Munich has participated in since he joined the club in 2007.

Two days after the match, it was reported by German publication Sport Bild that Franck Ribery was involved in a dressing room fight during half-time of the Madrid match with Arjen Robben.

The report stated that "a clear-the-air meeting was held" and Franck Ribery was "said to have apologized and accepted a fine for his actions".

Franck Ribery was given two-match suspension in the Pokal causing him to miss the quarter-final match against Borussia Dortmund and the semi-final match against VFL Wolfsburg even though his side won both of the matches and made it through to the final.

Franck Ribery won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in an all-German final against Dortmund.

Franck Ribery provided the assist to Arjen Robben who then scored the match-winning goal in the Champions League final.

Franck Ribery had the most assists with 15 assists in the Bundesliga.

On 30 August, Franck Ribery scored a 47th-minute goal against Chelsea in the 2013 UEFA Super Cup as his side won the UEFA Super Cup title for the first time in their club's history after winning in the penalty shoot-out.

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Franck Ribery scored nine goals and provided seven assists in this season.

On 2 December 2015, Franck Ribery trained with the first team for the first time since his injury in March 2015.

Franck Ribery finished the season with two goals and three assists.

Franck Ribery extended his contract with Bayern Munich by another year to June 2018, on 27 November 2016.

Franck Ribery scored five goals and provided seventeen assists in this season.

On 7 May 2018, Franck Ribery again extended his contract with Bayern, until June 2019.

On 5 May 2019, Bayern Munich announced that Franck Ribery would be leaving the club at the end of the season, with a testimonial match set for 2020.

Franck Ribery came on as a substitute in the 87th minute and made history as this was his eighth DFB-Pokal final appearance.

Franck Ribery finished his career at Bayern with a club record 24 titles.

Franck Ribery missed the competition after earning selection to coach Raymond Domenech's pre-World Cup squad.

Franck Ribery appeared in all seven matches France contested, starting six.

Franck Ribery played in the final where France lost to Italy on penalties.

Franck Ribery's only shot on goal came in extra time and he was later replaced by Trezeguet.

Franck Ribery went scoreless for almost a year and a half before converting a penalty shot against England on 26 March 2008 at the Stade de France.

At Euro 2008, France performed below expectations, with Franck Ribery appearing in all three group stage matches as France suffered early elimination.

On 17 June 2008, in the team's final group stage match against Italy, Franck Ribery ruptured a ligament in his left ankle in just the 8th minute of play.

On 11 May 2010, Franck Ribery was named to Domenech's 30-man preliminary squad to participate in the 2010 World Cup and his second World Cup overall.

Franck Ribery was later named to the 23-man team to compete in the competition.

Franck Ribery did not attend the hearing due to his parent club's objection.

On 17 March 2011, Franck Ribery was called up to the national team by new manager Laurent Blanc for the first time since the 2010 World Cup.

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Franck Ribery had been eligible to return to the team since October 2010 after serving his three-match suspension, but due to injuries, Ribery missed three call-ups.

On 21 March, after arriving to Clairefontaine ahead of the team's matches against Luxembourg and Croatia, Franck Ribery attended a personal press conference in which he apologised for his behaviour overall during the 2010 calendar year.

Franck Ribery was included in France's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but on 6 June, coach Didier Deschamps confirmed that he would miss the tournament through injury.

Franck Ribery cited the reasons for his retirement as "purely personal".

Franck Ribery primarily plays as a winger and is described as a player who is "fast, tricky, and an excellent dribbler who has great control with the ball at his feet".

Franck Ribery has declared that he is best utilised on the left side because "that is where I am most free and I am the best in my head".

Franck Ribery is capable of playing in the centre of the field as an attacking midfielder, where his vision, precise passing, technique, and playmaking skills are best exhibited; he has been deployed as a central midfielder on occasion.

Franck Ribery has been described as a provocateur on the field of play, with UEFA describing him as "a crowd-pleaser – one of those rare breed of footballer capable of enjoying his talents while expressing them", due to his trickery, artistry, and creativity on the ball.

Franck Ribery's wife, Wahiba, is a French national of Algerian descent and the couple have three daughters named Hiziya, Shahinez and Keltoum Cherifa, and two sons named Seif el Islam and Mohammed.

Franck Ribery is a convert to Islam, following which, he adopted the name Bilal Yusuf Mohammed.

Since establishing himself as an international, Franck Ribery has been involved in numerous promotional campaigns.

Franck Ribery is sponsored by American sportswear company Nike and regularly wears Nike Mercurial Vapors.

On 25 May 2010, a 27 by 30 metres billboard of Franck Ribery was officially unveiled in his home city of Boulogne-sur-Mer ahead of the 2010 World Cup.