André-Pierre Gignac

André-Pierre Gignac

Personal information
Full name	André-Pierre Gignac
Date of birth	5 December 1985 (1985-12-05) (age 25)
Place of birth	Martigues, France
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Marseille
Number	10
Youth career
1990–1995	Fos
1995–2002	Martigues
2002–2004	Lorient
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2007	Lorient	51	(11)
2005–2006	→ Pau (loan)	18	(8)
2007–2010	Toulouse	98	(34)
2010–	Marseille	0	(0)
National team‡
2009–	France	16	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:27, 4 July 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:00, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

André-Pierre Gignac (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃dʁe pjɛʁ ʒiɲak]; born 5 December 1985) is a French professional football player who currently plays for French club Marseille in Ligue 1 and the French national team. Of Romani heritage, Gignac began his career with Lorient before moving to Toulouse, amid controversial circumstances.^[1][2] After early struggles, Gignac reached prominence during the 2008–09 season becoming the league's top scorer netting 24 goals. He is the cousin of Valenciennes defender Jacques Abardonado and Yohan Mollo, who currently plays for Monaco.^[3]

Early and personal life

Gignac was born in the city of Martigues in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in the south of France to a French father and a French mother of Algerian origin.^[4] He is married and has a son, also named André-Pierre.^[5] In an interview with French football magazine So Foot, Gignac revealed he is of Spanish Gypsy descent but considers himself to be an adopted Manouche stating, "I grew up with them, my wife is Manouche, so my son is automatically Manouche. My family live in caravans and work in the markets. When I am given clothes I pass them on to my mother-in-law so she can sell them. Sometimes I go with her and stand behind the stall."^[1]

Career

Early career

Gignac began his career with local club FC Martigues before joining the Lorient youth academy in 2002.^[6][7] He made his debut with Lorient in Ligue 2 on 13 August 2004 coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute with the score tied 1–1 against Châteauroux. Within seconds of coming on, he scored the winning goal giving Lorient a 2–1 victory.^[8] The following season, Lorient achieved promotion to Ligue 1, though without Gignac's services as he was loaned out to Championnat National side Pau FC during the winter transfer period, where he scored 8 goals in 18 appearances.

He had a successful return to Lorient for the 2006–07 Ligue 1 season appearing in 37 matches and scoring 9 goals to become their leading goalscorer, including a hat trick in 27 minutes in the opening match of the season against Bretagne rivals Nantes.^[9]

Toulouse and controversy

At the end of the season, on 25 June 2007, it was announced that Gignac had signed a four-year deal with Toulouse.^[10] However, it was revealed soon after that Lorient had accepted a €4.5m bid from Lille OSC and that the player had already agreed to a pre-contract with the Northern side, putting his move to Toulouse in jeopardy.^[11] Despite this, Toulouse trumped Lille's offer by offering the player more than double the salary he had been offered by Lille.^[11] The clubs entered a war of words with Toulouse questioning the legitimacy of Lille's agreement while Gignac and Lille questioned the ethics and tactics of Toulouse.^[11] Eventually, Gignac's move to Toulouse was validated.

Gignac made his competitive debut for Toulouse in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round match against Liverpool, coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute. Toulouse lost the match 1–0 and conceded the two-legged tie 5–0 on aggregate, thus being eliminated from the Champions League. On 4 October 2007, after coming on as a substitute for Elmander, Gignac scored a last-minute goal against Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia to cancel out Claudinei Alexandre Aparecido's opening goal from the penalty spot and enable his team to progress to the group stages of the UEFA Cup on the away goals rule.^[12] Despite the hype, both Gignac and Toulouse had disappointing 2007–08 seasons with Gignac appearing in 28 matches and scoring only two goals. Toulouse finished the season in 17th place, just one place above the relegation zone. Some attributed Gignac's struggle for form to him playing second fiddle to Swedish striker Johan Elmander.^[5]

Gignac during a 2008–09 preseason match

In the 2008–09 season, Gignac's form blossomed as he became first-choice striker due to the departure of Johan Elmander to Bolton Wanderers. He scored his 1st goal of the season in just the second match against Le Havre with an 88th minute strike to seal a 2–1 victory.^[13] Over the course of the season, Gignac scored several vital goals for his club notably braces against Sochaux, Grenoble, Saint-Étienne, Marseille, and Nice twice, including his final two goals (23^rd and 24^th) of the season.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]} He overtook Elmander (Toulouse's top scorer last year with 11 goals) during the 19^th match. For his efforts, he was awarded the UNFP Player of the Month award twice for September and March, nominated for the Ligue 1 Player of the Year Award, which was won by Yoann Gourcuff, selected to the Ligue 1 Team of the Year, and received the Trophée du Meilleur Buteur for being the league's top scorer.^[20][21][22]

Gignac switched to the number 10 shirt for the 2009–10 season and, on 14 August 2009, signed a one-year contract extension tying him to Toulouse until 2013.^[23][24] The extension signaled an end to rumors of a move during the fall transfer window, where the player had been linked with moves to fellow Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais, Premier League clubs Arsenal and Manchester United, and Serie A clubs Juventus and A.C. Milan.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Gignac scored his first goal of the season on 15 August 2009 in a 3–1 victory over Saint-Étienne.^[29] Five days later, he scored a brace in the first leg of the club's playoff round match against Turkish club Trabzonspor.^[30] The 3–1 result in the first leg was enough for Toulouse to reach the group stage of the competition where Gignac struck again, this time against Belgian club Brugge in a 2–2 draw.^[31] After going scoreless for seven weeks in the league, on 24 October, Gignac bagged the second goal in the club's 2–0 away win over Lens.^[32] The following week, he scored both goals in another 2–0 victory, this time against Sochaux.^[33] Two weeks later, Gignac netted the game winning goal against Rennes.^[34] On 16 January 2010, Gignac provided the assists on all three goals scored by the club in their 3–1 win over Valenciennes. Despite being injured for the majority of the spring campaign, Gignac finished the season as the club's top scorer.

Marseille

On 20 August 2010, prior to the start of the press conference for new signing Loïc Rémy, Marseille president Jean-Claude Dassier confirmed that the club had reached a tentative agreement with Toulouse for the transfer of Gignac. Gignac underwent a medical the following day and signed a five-year contract.^[35][36] The transfer fee is undisclosed, but is reported to be within the region of €16–18 million.^[37][38][39]

International career

Gignac received his first international call up for France for World Cup qualifiers against Lithuania.^[5] He missed the first match due to injury, but was fit enough to earn his first cap on 1 April 2009 coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute and providing the assist to Franck Ribéry's goal in the 1–0 victory.^[40][41] On 12 August 2009, Gignac scored France's lone goal after 42 minutes against last-place Faroe Islands in a World Cup qualifier in Tórshavn. On 10 October 2009, he scored a brace in a five-minute span, again against the Faroe Islands, in France's 5–0 thrashing of the Faroes in the return leg in Guingamp. Four days later, Gignac struck again against Austria scoring the final goal in France's 3–1 victory after appearing as a substitute for Thierry Henry in the second half.

On 11 May 2010, Gignac was named to Domenech's 30-man preliminary squad to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He was later named in the 23-man team to compete in the competition, and was handed the number 11 shirt for the tournament. On 11 June 2010, Gignac made his FIFA World Cup debut in the team's opening group stage match against Uruguay appearing as a substitute in the second half, replacing Sidney Govou in the 85th minute. The match ended in a 0–0 stalemate. Gignac appeared in the final two group stage matches, which included a start against the hosts South Africa. France lost the match 2–1, which resulted in the team's elimination from the competition.

Career statistics

(Correct as of 15:27, 4 July 2010)

International

(Correct as of 22 June 2010)^[42]

International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 August 2009	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	0 – 1	0 – 1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	10 October 2009	Stade du Roudourou, Guingamp, France	Faroe Islands	1 – 0	5 – 0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3				2 – 0
4	14 October 2009	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Austria	3 – 1	3 – 1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Notes

1. ↑ Includes Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des Champions
2. ↑ Includes UEFA Supercup

References

External links

• André-Pierre Gignac French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• André-Pierre Gignac - FIFA competition record

France squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Lloris • 2 Sagna • 3 Abidal • 4 Réveillère • 5 Gallas • 6 Planus • 7 Ribéry • 8 Gourcuff • 9 Cissé • 10 Govou • 11 Gignac • 12 Henry • 13 Evra (c) • 14 Toulalan • 15 Malouda • 16 Mandanda • 17 Squillaci • 18 Diarra • 19 Diaby • 20 Valbuena • 21 Anelka • 22 Clichy • 23 Carrasso • Coach: Domenech