Bixente Lizarazu

Template:Short description Template:BLP sources Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Bixente Jean Michel Lizarazu ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}, born 9 December 1969) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back.

He rose through the ranks at Bordeaux, where he was part of a team that finished second in the French First Division in 1989–1990, were administratively relegated to the Second Division at the end of the 1990–1991 due to financial problems, and then won promotion from the Second Division in the 1991–92 season. His Bordeaux team finished runners-up in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup. As he is a native of the French Basque Country, he was able to join Athletic Club in 1996, but did not nail down a starting spot during his one season at the club.

In 1997, he joined German giants Bayern Munich, where he enjoyed much success. He won six Bundesliga championships with the team, as well as the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, where he scored his penalty in the shootout in the final.<ref name=":0" />

In a 12-year international career from 1992 to 2004, Lizarazu earned 97 caps for the France national team. He played in three UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups for France, winning the 1998 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.

Early life

Lizarazu was born in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and grew up in Hendaye; both cities being located in the French Basque Country.<ref name="Lequipe"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is of Basque descent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Club career

Bordeaux

An enthusiast in several sports from a young age,<ref name=kurbos>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=modern>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lizarazu began his professional career with Bordeaux, joining the club's youth setup as a 15-year-old in 1984 and initially playing as a winger.<ref name=kurbos/><ref name=modern/> After being told he would not make a career from football due to his frail physicality as a teenager,<ref name=modern/> he impressed the staff with his determination and became a member of the senior squad in 1988<ref name=kurbos/> alongside forward Christophe Dugarry. He was retrained to play as a counter-attacking left-back at the suggestion of coach Didier Couécou<ref name=modern/> and soon replaced the veteran Gernot Rohr (later to be the club's manager) in the position.<ref name=kurbos/>

In 1990 Bordeaux finished runners-up in the French championship, but the following year they were administratively relegated amid financial problems.<ref name=kurbos/><ref name=modern/> Lizarazu remained with the club and helped them immediately regain their top tier status in 1992.<ref name=kurbos/> The club also signed Zinedine Zidane, who became another important element of the team,<ref name=modern/> which went on to achieve two 4th- and a 7th-place finish over the next three seasons, Lizarazu contributing 101 appearances and 15 goals.Template:Citation needed

In summer 1995, Bordeaux won the UEFA Intertoto Cup<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> to qualify for the 1995–96 UEFA Cup. They would go all the way to the final under coach Rohr, beating Real Betis, A.C. Milan<ref name="toto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Slavia Prague before losing to Bayern Munich 5–1 on aggregate.<ref name=kurbos/><ref name=":2" /> However their league form suffered, dropping to 16th.<ref name=modern/> Following UEFA Euro 1996, in which Dugarry, Zidane and Lizarazu were part of the French squad which reached the semi-finals,<ref name=":2" /> the three moved abroad seeking a new challenge: Zidane joining Juventus, Dugarry going to Milan<ref name=modern/> and Lizarazu staying local but changing nations by moving to Athletic Bilbao, based the same distance from his home in the French Basque Country as Bordeaux.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He appeared 299 times for his formative club, scoring 28 goals.Template:Citation needed

Athletic Bilbao

Lizarazu spent just one season with the La Liga club after becoming the first Frenchman to play for Athletic,<ref name=kurbos/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which has a policy of selecting only players of Basque birth or heritage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Suffering from a persistent groin injury,<ref name=modern/> he was unable to displace the experienced Aitor Larrazábal at left-back, received two red cards among the 16 league appearances he did make, and had disagreements with the head coach, compatriot Luis Fernández.<ref name=kurbos/> In the 1997 close season, he transferred to Bayern Munich.<ref name=modern/>

Bayern Munich

Before even playing a Bundesliga match, Lizarazu lifted a trophy with his new club, winning the inaugural edition of the preseason DFL-Ligapokal.<ref name=kurbos/> It was the start of a highly successful spell in Bavaria,<ref name="uefa.com" /> despite the interruption of some serious injuries,<ref name=kurbos/> as he went on to win six Bundesliga championships (including three in a row between 1999 and 2001), as well as five DFB-Pokals, the Champions League in 2001<ref name=kurbos/> (scoring his penalty in the shootout),<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Intercontinental Cup.<ref name="uefa.com" /><ref name=kurbos/> On winning the Intercontinental Cup in 2001, he became the first player to be a current European and World champion in both club and international football.Template:Citation needed

Lizarazu said that he would leave Bayern in the summer of 2004 and eventually signed with Marseille.<ref name=kurbos/> However, after only six months back in France, he returned to Bayern Munich in January 2005.<ref name=kurbos/> During his second spell with Bayern, ending in 2006 when he gave way to the emerging Philipp Lahm,<ref name=kurbos/> Lizarazu wore the shirt number 69; clarifying that it was not a lewd gesture, he said this was because he was born in 1969, his height is 1.69 m and he weighed 69 kg.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He made 268 appearances in all competitions for Bayern between 1997 and 2006, scoring eight goals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 183 of these games were in the German top-flight.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

International career

Lizarazu was capped 97 times for France (for the first time on 14 November 1992 against Finland),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> scoring two goals, and helped them win the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000, starting in the final of both tournaments. He was also part of squad for France in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, though France were eliminated from group stage in the tournament without scoring a single goal where he was involved all 3 matches in the group stage.<ref name="uefa.com" /> He retired from international football after France were surprisingly eliminated by eventual winners Greece at Euro 2004.<ref name=kurbos/>

Style of play

Regarded by pundits as one of the best left-backs of his generation, Lizarazu was an attacking full-back or wing-back, who was known for his passing, technique, pace, stamina, and his ability to get up the flank and provide accurate crosses from the touch-line. In addition to his offensive prowess, he was also known for his defensive abilities, despite his diminutive stature, which, along with his speed, allowed him to track back.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

After retirement, Lizarazu got involved in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He competed in a jiu-jitsu competition in Europe in 2009, where he became European champion in the Blue Belt Senior 1 Light Division.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is also a keen surfer<ref name=modern/> and works as a football pundit for French television and radio.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2013, Lizarazu was described as a "tramp" by his successor as France's left-back, Patrice Evra, after he and other pundits criticised Evra for giving an impromptu team talk during half-time of a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Belarus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lizarazu has two children.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is in a relationship with actress Claire Keim with whom he has a daughter.<ref name=":1" /> Lizarazu was formerly engaged to singer Elsa Lunghini from 1999 to 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lizarazu is a native speaker of Basque and French. In addition, he also speaks Spanish, German and English.Template:Citation needed

Career statistics

Club

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Citation needed<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Club	Season	League			National cupTemplate:Efn		League cupTemplate:Efn		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bordeaux	1988–89	Division 1	16	0	1	0	–		0	0	–		17	0
	1989–90		38	2	4	0	–		–		–		42	2
	1990–91		35	2	1	0	–		6Template:Efn	0	–		42	2
	1991–92	Division 2	33	0	3	0	–		–		–		36	0
	1992–93	Division 1	35	4	3	0	–		–		–		38	4
	1993–94		32	9	3	0	–		6Template:Efn	0	–		41	9
	1994–95		32	2	2	1	1	0	4Template:Efn	0	–		39	3
	1995–96		23	3	0	0	0	0	10Template:Efn	1	7Template:Efn	4	40	8
	Total		244	22	17	1	1	0	26	1	7	4	295	28
Athletic Bilbao	1996–97	La Liga	16	0	2	0	–		–		–		18	0
Bayern Munich	1997–98	Bundesliga	19	0	3	0	2	0	2Template:Efn	0	–		24	0
	1998–99		19	2	5	1	0	0	9Template:Efn	0	–		33	3
	1999–2000		22	1	1	0	0	0	10Template:Efn	0	–		33	1
	2000–01		15	0	1	0	0	0	10Template:Efn	0	–		26	0
	2001–02		25	1	1	0	0	0	12Template:Efn	0	2Template:Efn	0	40	1
	2002–03		26	2	5	0	0	0	3Template:Efn	0	–		34	2
	2003–04		26	1	1	0	0	0	8Template:Efn	0	–		35	1
	Total		152	7	17	1	2	0	54	0	2	0	227	8
Marseille	2004–05	Ligue 1	14	0	0	0	1	0	–		–		15	0
Bayern Munich	2004–05	Bundesliga	13	0	2	0	0	0	4Template:Efn	0	–		19	0
	2005–06		18	0	2	0	1	0	6Template:Efn	0	–		27	0
	Total		31	0	4	0	1	0	10	0	–		46	0
Career total			457	29	40	2	5	0	90	1	9	4	601	36

International

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
France	1992	1	0
	1993	6	0
	1994	5	0
	1995	5	1
	1996	9	0
	1997	4	0
	1998	13	1
	1999	6	0
	2000	12	0
	2001	10	0
	2002	7	0
	2003	12	0
	2004	7	0
Total		97	2

Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lizarazu goal.

List of international goals scored by Bixente Lizarazu

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Stade Michel d'Ornano, Caen, France	Template:Fb	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
2	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Template:Fb	4–0	4–0	1998 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Bordeaux<ref name="uefa.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Division 2: 1991–92
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1995
• UEFA Cup runner-up: 1995–96

Bayern Munich<ref name="uefa.com"/><ref name="fussballdaten.de">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Bundesliga: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06
• DFB-Pokal: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06
• DFB-Ligapokal: 1997
• UEFA Champions League: 2000–01; runner-up: 1998–99
• Intercontinental Cup: 2001

France<ref name="fussballdaten.de"/>

• FIFA World Cup: 1998
• UEFA European Championship: 2000
• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2001, 2003

Individual

• ESM Team of the Year: 1998–99<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• UEFA Team of the Year: 2001<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• FIFA XI: 2002<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Équipe type spéciale 20 ans des trophées UNFP: 2011Template:Citation needed

Orders

• Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• Officer of the Legion of Honour: 2025<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

External links

• Template:FFF player
• Template:UEFA player
• Template:FIFA player