Yoann Miguel Gourcuff was born on 11 July 1986 and is a French former professional footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder.
48 Facts About Yoann Gourcuff
2.
Yoann Gourcuff could be utilized as a withdrawn striker; he was described as a "playmaker of real quality", "an accomplished passer of the ball".
3.
Yoann Gourcuff's talent, playing style, tenacity on the pitch, technical skills, as well as precocious ability have drawn comparisons to Zinedine Zidane.
4.
Yoann Gourcuff is a former winner of the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year award and, in December 2009, was named the French Player of the Year for the 2009 calendar year.
5.
Yoann Gourcuff made his senior national team debut in August 2008.
6.
Yoann Gourcuff scored his first international goal two months later against Romania.
7.
Yoann Gourcuff made his first major tournament appearance for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
8.
Yoann Gourcuff was born in Ploemeur, Brittany to parents Dr Marine Thalouarn and Christian Yoann Gourcuff, both of whom are Bretons.
9.
Yoann Gourcuff comes from a very athletic family: his mother was a basketball player, his older brother, Erwan, is a competitive swimmer and cyclist, while his father was a former footballer who played for several clubs in such countries as France, Switzerland, and Canada.
10.
Yoann Gourcuff often attempted to emulate the skills of Brazilian legend Pele.
11.
Yoann Gourcuff began his career with Lorient, who were, at the time, managed by his father Christian in 1992.
12.
Yoann Gourcuff spent two years in the club's youth academy and, while competing domestically in the system, Gourcuff played on the club's under-19 team that won the 2003 edition of the Coupe Gambardella.
13.
Yoann Gourcuff was promoted to the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth level of French football, Yoann Gourcuff appeared in 15 matches and scored two goals with the team before signing his first professional contract in November 2003, which resulted in his promotion to the senior team by manager Laszlo Boloni.
14.
Yoann Gourcuff appeared in nine matches with the reserve team and 21 with the senior team.
15.
Yoann Gourcuff only started six matches with the latter team scoring no goals and providing one assist.
16.
Yoann Gourcuff finished his Rennes career with 80 appearances, six goals, and nine assists.
17.
Yoann Gourcuff was assigned the number 20 shirt and made his competitive debut for the Rossoneri on 9 August 2006 in the club's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie against Serbian club Red Star Belgrade.
18.
Yoann Gourcuff only appeared in 15 league matches for the club starting only four.
19.
Yoann Gourcuff was not intelligent in the manner of managing himself.
20.
In 2010, in an interview with French newspaper L'Equipe, former Milan captain Paolo Maldini stated that Yoann Gourcuff lacked discipline while at the club and often distanced himself from the team citing the player's refusal to learn the Italian language.
21.
Maldini stated that Yoann Gourcuff did not give his all during his stint at Milan and that the player himself knew it.
22.
Yoann Gourcuff did not respond to the comments, but his father Christian did, stating to France Football that there was some sort of conspiracy out there looking to tarnish his son's image.
23.
The elder Yoann Gourcuff responded to Maldini's charges stating his son "took two hours per day and spoke Italian after two months" and that "he is passionate about tactics" in response to Maldini saying Yoann Gourcuff refused to learn Italian and he was limited tactically.
24.
Yoann Gourcuff was well integrated with his teammates, and collectively with them on the ground.
25.
Yoann Gourcuff scored two goals in Bordeaux's Champions League campaign against Roma and CFR Cluj.
26.
Yoann Gourcuff was named in the organization's Ligue 1 Team of the Year.
27.
Yoann Gourcuff returned to the team for Bordeaux's back-to-back matches with German club Bayern Munich.
28.
On 23 February 2010, Yoann Gourcuff assisted on Bordeaux's only goal, scored by Michael Ciani, in the club's shutout victory away to Greek club Olympiacos in the first leg of its UEFA Champions League knockout round match following his delivery of a powerful and driven free kick into the box that landed at the head of the defenseman.
29.
Yoann Gourcuff was, subsequently, relegated to the bench for the match.
30.
Yoann Gourcuff appeared as a substitute in the match for the injured Cesar Delgado.
31.
Yoann Gourcuff admitted that he was struggling to adapt to the style of manager Claude Puel, though the player later clarified his statements stating that they were misinterpreted.
32.
Yoann Gourcuff finished his debut campaign at Lyon with 36 total appearances, four goals, and five assists.
33.
On 26 July 2011, it was reported by Lyon that Yoann Gourcuff would undergo ankle surgery in order to heal a niggling ankle complaint.
34.
Yoann Gourcuff consistently suffered injury after joining Lyon, missing over 90 games due to injury during his tenure with the club.
35.
Yoann Gourcuff accepted a one-year deal with his former club Rennes.
36.
In June 2018, having played just 10 league matches the season before, Yoann Gourcuff was released by Rennes.
37.
In July 2018, free agent Yoann Gourcuff signed a one-year contract with Ligue 1 side Dijon.
38.
Yoann Gourcuff scored his first goal for the team on 5 February 2003 in a friendly match against the Czech Republic.
39.
Yoann Gourcuff finished the season with the under-17 team accumulating twelve appearances and netting two goals as the squad failed to qualify for the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.
40.
Yoann Gourcuff returned to international level with the under-19 team and was a part of the winning team at the 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
41.
In total with the under-19 team, Yoann Gourcuff featured in 17 matches and scored seven goals.
42.
Yoann Gourcuff made his debut for the under-21 team on 18 May 2006 in a preparatory friendly match for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship against Croatia.
43.
On 5 September 2006, Yoann Gourcuff scored his first under-21 goal in a 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Slovenia.
44.
Yoann Gourcuff earned his first call up to the senior team on 11 August 2008 for the team's friendly match against Sweden that was played on 20 August.
45.
Yoann Gourcuff scored his first goal for Les Bleus on 11 October 2008 against Romania in a 2010 World Cup qualification match.
46.
Yoann Gourcuff was a member of France's 23-man team that competed in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
47.
On 11 June 2010, Yoann Gourcuff made his FIFA World Cup debut in the team's opening group stage match against Uruguay.
48.
Yoann Gourcuff was not included in France's squad for UEFA Euro 2012.