Christian Karembeu

Christian Karembeu (2014)

Christian Karembeu [ kʀistjɑ kaʀɑbø ] ( born December 3, 1970 to Lifou in New Caledonia ) is a retired French footballer and currently a strategic advisor to the Greek football club Olympiacos Piraeus.

The person Christian Karembeu

Growing up is the defensive midfielder who occasionally played at right midfield or in defense, the son of a Melanesian family ( wogs ) in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia with 17 siblings. In the late 1980s he came to FC Nantes where he started his career as a professional player (first use in Division 1 in May 1991). Karembeu was considered in the best sense of self-willed, but at the same time able to engage in new experiences; on the rigid European Time management, for example, he has converted willingly. Problems that occasionally arose in its various clubs and the national team, created partly by the reactions of fellow players and managers on the opinion joyful and confident Melanesians.

Karembeu always refused to sing the French national anthem before games. This he justified with the fact that in 1931 two of his uncles had been placed in a human zoo on display during the Paris Colonial Exhibition.

Outside of football he has, inter alia, commitment to eradicating the French nuclear testing in the South Pacific. From 1998 to 2011 he was married to Slovak model Adriana.

The club career

Christian Karembeu was at clubs in six European countries under contract and has won with three of this item. The greatest success at club level was the two-time winning the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid (1998 and 2000).

The National Players

Between November 1992 and March 2002, Christian Karembeu played a total of 53 times in the French national team ( eight missions during his time in Nantes, 20 in Genoa, 16 in Madrid, seven at Middlesbrough and two at Piraeus), scoring one goal. For years he was an indispensable part of the team and has helped to make France the World Cup 1998 ( four games, including semi-finals and final ), the Euro 2000 ( a game) and the Confederations Cup 2001 ( three matches, including the semi-finals and finals ) finished as the winner.

That he was, despite all the class might not always used, was that his role corresponded to the pitch of the long-time team captain Didier Deschamps and also the defense of the Équipe Tricolore with Thuram, Blanc, Desailly and Lizarazu has always been " set ".

As Karembeu got the feeling that coach Roger Lemerre did not intend to nominate him for the 2002 World Cup, he finished out of the National Chapter and announced his retirement.