Gaël Clichy
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 26 July 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Toulouse, France | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Left back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Arsenal | ||
| Number | 22 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2000 | Castelmaurou | ||
| 2000–2001 | Cannes | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2003 | Cannes | 15 | (0) |
| 2003– | Arsenal | 156 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004–2005 | France U-21 | 13 | (0) |
| 2008– | France | 5 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:26, 21 August 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Gaël Clichy (French pronunciation: [ɡaɛl kliʃi]; born 26 July 1985 in Toulouse) is a French footballer who currently plays as a full back for Arsenal in the English Premier League. He is the only remaining member of Arsenal's famous Invincibles team that is still at the club.
Contents |
Biography
Early career
Clichy grew up in the city of Toulouse, France. In his early years, after climbing over a metal fence, a ring he was wearing got caught and tore his finger off.[2] He had a seven-hour operation to sew it back on, but during the operation, his heart stopped beating due to a problem with his lungs. It restarted after 15 seconds. Doctors described it as a "miracle" that Clichy survived. His mother had the resources to help him recover after years of experience in medical school as a nurse.
When AS Cannes were relegated to the French Third Division, Arsène Wenger persuaded Clichy's parents to let him join Arsenal.
Arsenal
After Ashley Cole suffered a fractured foot in October 2005, it seemed that Clichy would earn some valuable first-team action during Cole's time out; indeed, with rumours linking Cole with a transfer to Spain, it seemed that Clichy could make a strong case for continual first-team action.
Clichy returned to first team action on 25 April 2006 in a Champions League semi-final against Villarreal CF, and came on as a substitute for the injured Mathieu Flamini. Clichy suffered a re-occurrence of his injury and missed the end of the season including the Champions League Final, and would not return to the first team until 14 October 2006.
When Cole left for Chelsea in August 2006, Clichy became the first choice left-back at Arsenal. As Cole's understudy, Clichy made 62 appearances (including 39 in the league) for Arsenal in three seasons. In the season which followed Cole's departure, Clichy made 27 league appearances in a total of 40, and has since become Arsenal's first-choice left back. In the 2007–08 season, Clichy was selected in the PFA Team of the Year as left back. This fine form was rewarded on 20 June 2008, when he signed a new "long-term" contract. He came in second in the Arsenal fans' poll for Player of the Season. He captained Arsenal for the first time against Barnet in Arsenal's first pre-season game of 2008–09.
Clichy scored his first goal for Arsenal on 1 November 2008, with a late goal against Stoke City, as Arsenal went down 2–1.[3] After being sidelined for several weeks, it was announced in early May that Clichy would miss the remainder of the 2008–09 season due to a back injury.[4]
International career
In 2007, he was called up for the France national squad. He was called up again in January 2008, for the French game against Spain, and 5 February 2008, he was called in a B-squad friendly against the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[5]
Clichy made his senior international debut for France on 10 September 2008 in their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Serbia and this was his only appearance in the 2010 World Cup campaign as France had a memorable yet poor tournament.
Arsenal career statistics
- (correct as of 9 May 2010)[6]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Arsenal | 2003–04 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004–05 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 24* | 0 | 0 | |
| 2005–06 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2007–08 | 38 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 6 | |
| 2008–09 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2010–11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 155 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 221 | 1 | 8 | |
- Includes FA community Shield
Honours
Winner
- FA Premier League: 2003–04
- FA Cup: 2005
- FA Community Shield: 2004
Runner-up
- UEFA Champions League: 2005–06
- FA Premier League: 2004-05
Individual
- Member of PFA Team of the Year: 2007–08
References
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/shared/bsp/hi/football/statistics/players/c/clichy_275505.stm
- ↑ Smith, Alan (5 May 2007). "Clichy excels in Cole role". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/05/05/sfnsmi05.xml. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ↑ "Stoke 2–1 Arsenal". BBC. 1 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7684755.stm. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
- ↑ "Arsenal defender Gael Clichy out for the rest of season – Barclays Premier League – ESPN Soccernet". Soccernet.espn.go.com. 2009-05-07. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=644158&sec=england&cc=5901. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ↑ (French) List of the pre-selected players in the French A-squad in the season 2007–2008.
- ↑ "Statistics". Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/profile?id=35099&cc=5901. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
External links
- Statistics at soccerbase.com
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