Football: Blaise Matuidi, 2018 world champion with France, ends his career
French footballer Blaise Matuidi kissing the World Cup trophy, July 15, 2018. AP - Matthias Schrader
Text by: Nicolas Bamba Follow
3 mins
Essential player of the France team for years, on the roof of the world in 2018 with the Blues, Blaise Matuidi announced, Friday, December 23, the end of his professional career.
“
Throat tight but with pride
”, the former French midfielder, notably passed through Paris Saint-Germain, turns a big page.
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He is the first of the
23 Blues world champions in Russia in 2018
to retire from the field.
A little over a year after his last match with Inter Miami, Blaise Matuidi has formalized the end of his career as a professional footballer.
"
I had the chance to play in the biggest European clubs, to wear the jersey of the national team, to make my family vibrate, to live from my passion, and these are images that will remain with me
", explains- he in a video posted Friday, December 23 on YouTube.
Football, I loved you so much.
Football, you gave me so much, but the time has come to say stop.
I accomplished my dreams as a child, my dreams as a man.
It is with a tight throat but with pride that I turn this page today.
THANKS ❤️
👉🏾 https://t.co/j9S9b7QaiD pic.twitter.com/rkDwnxX9Tj
— Blaise Matuidi (@MATUIDIBlaise) December 23, 2022
From Estac to the highest world level
The young retiree began his career at the end of 2004, at the age of 17, in the jersey of Troyes, one of his training clubs.
Launched into the deep end by Jean-Marc Furlan, the promising midfielder gained momentum in Aube before crossing a first threshold by joining AS Saint-Etienne in 2007.
In the jersey of the Greens, Blaise Matuidi continued his progress to seduce Laurent Blanc, freshly appointed coach of a France team in tatters after a
calamitous 2010 World Cup
.
The coach called him up for the first time in August 2010 and offered him his first cape a few weeks later.
Very followed by several important clubs in Europe, the international decided, in the summer of 2011, to respond favorably to the call of Paris Saint-Germain, just acquired by Qatar Sports Investments and now very ambitious.
Within a snoring workforce, Blaise Matuidi became a pillar of all the coaches passed by the club of the capital, namely Antoine Kombouaré, Carlo Ancelotti, Laurent Blanc then Unai Emery.
“
I had to whip constantly, show that I was above the others
”
Renowned for his selflessness, his endurance and his versatility, Blaise Matuidi formed, at PSG, a formidable trio in the midfield with Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti.
In the France team, he also made himself indispensable in the eyes of coach Didier Deschamps, who succeeded Laurent Blanc in 2012. The midfielder was a basic man for the Blues, vice-champions of Europe in 2016 and world champions in 2018 He will accumulate 84 caps and nine goals between 2010 and 2019.
Sometimes mocked for his unorthodox style, Blaise Matuidi has always been able to respond in the field and convince.
His career in Paris, a club whose jersey he wore 295 times, attests to this.
“
It has never been easy for me.
I was always expected, I did not necessarily have technical qualities beyond the average, and it was necessary to whip constantly, to show that mentally, in terms of effort, sacrifice, I was above others.
I think I've reached the pinnacle of that
," he says.
In 2017, the native of Toulouse, looking for a new challenge, took over the management of Juventus, before flying to the United States and Inter Miami in 2020. "Blaisou" played his last there. match in November 2021 before being removed from the workforce for the 2022 season of Major League Soccer, the North American championship.
Today, tributes are pouring in to salute his exceptional career.
Congratulations on your immense career, your professionalism and your good mood!
The @PSG_inside and its supporters will remember your exploits in Rouge & Bleu.
The Club wishes you the best in your new projects.
See you soon at the Parc des Princes #PSGlegend ❤️💙🙌 https://t.co/QJrzGaomZ7 pic.twitter.com/0MdtB2iaN7
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) December 23, 2022
“
Thank you and congratulations for your immense career, Blaisou
”, tweets the France team.
“
Congratulations on your immense career, your professionalism and your good humor!
PSG and its supporters will remember your exploits in Rouge & Bleu
,” says Paris Saint-Germain.
“
The Trojan family is proud of you
”, applauds Estac, while Juventus says “
Thank you for everything
” and Saint-Etienne sends him a “
bravo for everything you have accomplished
”.
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