French association football player
This article is about the footballer. For his former wife, see
Adriana Karembeu
.
Christian Lali Kake Karembeu
(born 3 December 1970) is a
New Caledonian
former
professional
footballer
who played as a
defensive midfielder
. He is currently the
sporting director
for
Olympiacos
.
Karembeu represented
Nantes
,
Sampdoria
,
Real Madrid
,
Middlesbrough
, Olympiacos,
Servette
, and
Bastia
. He found much success on the national stage as well representing
France
, having been born in the overseas territory New Caledonia, and was a vital part of the squad that won the
1998 FIFA World Cup
on home soil and featured in one match in France's victorious
UEFA Euro 2000
campaign.
[6]
Early life
[
edit
]
Karembeu was born in
Lifou
, New Caledonia, a
French overseas territory
in the
Pacific Islands
.
[7]
He played youth football for Noumea-based
Gaitcha FCN
.
[8]
[9]
At the age of 17, he moved to France on a scholarship to study and play football.
[10]
He was recruited as a youth player by
FC Nantes
and signed a professional contract with the club in 1990.
[9]
Club career
[
edit
]
During his career Karembeu played for
Nantes
(1990?95),
Sampdoria
(1995?97),
Real Madrid
(1997?2000),
Middlesbrough
(2000?01),
Olympiacos
(2001?04),
Servette Geneve
(2004?05),
Bastia
(2005?06). With Real Madrid, he won the
Champions League
in 1998 and 2000, starting in the former but remaining on the bench for the latter. He also played for the
Real Madrid
Veterans against Barcelona in Qatar, on 13 November 2012. He last played
midfield
for
Bastia
in the French
Ligue 1
. He announced his retirement on 13 October 2006, although he added that he would "be having a kickabout from time to time". He also took part in a friendly competition for
Kettering Town FC
with
Gianfranco Zola
,
Les Ferdinand
and
Gus Poyet
.
International career
[
edit
]
Born in the French territory of
New Caledonia
, he was able to represent
France
on the international stage. He compiled 53
caps
in his career, earning his first one on 14 November 1992 against
Finland
in a 2?1 victory.
Karembeu was a member of the French team that won the
1998 World Cup
. He played in 4 matches in the tournament, including starts in the quarter-final, semi-final, and final, totalling 242 minutes.
[6]
He was also part of the victorious French team at
Euro 2000
.
[6]
Style of play
[
edit
]
Described as a "complete midfielder" by Paul Sarahs of
FourFourTwo
, Karembeu was a physically imposing, energetic, and technically gifted
two-way midfielder
, who was known for his range of passing,
dribbling
skills, stamina, and hard-tackling playing style;
[11]
[12]
[13]
he usually played in a holding role in midfield, although he was also capable of playing in various other positions, including in a box-to-box role, as a
right?sided midfielder
, or even as a
right-back
.
[13]
[14]
Regarding his playing style and role in France's victory in the 1998 World Cup final, Michael Cox of
ESPN FC
described him as "a peculiar hybrid of a
wing-back
and a box-to-box midfielder," who "shuttled up and down on the right of a very defensive three-man midfield."
[15]
Post-retirement career
[
edit
]
On 9 December 2005, Karembeu represented the
Oceania Football Confederation
at the draw for the
2006 World Cup
which took place in
Leipzig
, Germany.
In May 2006 Karembeu became a scout for English
Premiership
side
Portsmouth Football Club
. In 2007, he was appointed as non-executive director of
Birmingham International Holdings
.
[16]
He left after 2010 annual general meeting.
[17]
However, in August 2009, Karembeu decided to join Arsenal's ever expanding scouting network.
[18]
In June 2013, Karembeu was handed an administrative role at
Greek
club
Olympiacos
along with former
South African
footballer
Pierre Issa
.
[19]
Commitment
[
edit
]
Karembeu is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by
Peace and Sport
, a
Monaco
-based international organization.
[20]
Deeply involved in Peace and Sport's activities, Karembeu visited
Haiti
in August 2010 with Founder and President of Peace and Sport, Joel Bouzou, to strengthen the role of sport in the country's reconstruction efforts and attract the attention of the international community to urgent needs that prevail there. He went to meet sports instructors and young beneficiaries of the emergency program that the Haitian Olympic Committee has set up in survivor camps.
[21]
Personal life
[
edit
]
The great-grandfather of Karembeu, who came from
New Caledonia
, was one of a hundred
Kanaks
taken to Paris in 1931 for the
Paris Colonial Exposition
and exhibited there as "cannibals". Later the "cannibals" were swapped with Germany for some
crocodiles
.
[22]
Karembeu refuses to sing France's national anthem,
La Marseillaise
, due to the colonial past of the country.
[23]
Karembeu was married to
Slovak
model
Adriana Sklena?ikova
, whom he met on an aeroplane.
[24]
The couple split in March 2011 and divorced in December 2012.
[25]
Their marriage was childless.
In May 2017, Karembeu married
Jackie Chamoun
, a Lebanese skier, in
Greece
, followed by a wedding ceremony in
Lebanon
.
[26]
The couple announced the birth of their daughter on 27 September 2017.
[27]
Following the 1998 World Cup, he was made a
Knight of the Legion of Honour
in 1998.
[28]
Television
[
edit
]
Karembeu is the host of French TV series "Des Iles et des Hommes" (
Of Islands and Men
), aired on
Planete
in 2010 and 2011, a travel programme visiting among 6 of the most beautiful islands of the world.
He also became part of the ITV broadcast team for Euro 2016.
Career statistics
[
edit
]
Club
[
edit
]
International
[
edit
]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
France
|
1992
|
1
|
0
|
1993
|
0
|
0
|
1994
|
6
|
0
|
1995
|
4
|
1
|
1996
|
13
|
0
|
1997
|
4
|
0
|
1998
|
10
|
0
|
1999
|
4
|
0
|
2000
|
4
|
0
|
2001
|
6
|
0
|
2002
|
1
|
0
|
Total
|
53
|
1
|
Honours
[
edit
]
Nantes
[30]
Real Madrid
[6]
[31]
Olympiacos
[30]
France
[6]
[31]
Individual
Orders
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Pitoiset, Anne; Wery, Claudine (2011).
Karembeu, un champion Kanak
. Editions Le Rayon Vert. p. 23.
ISBN
978-2-953-3198-1-1
.
- ^
"Christian Karembeu: Profile"
.
worldfootball.net
. HEIM:SPIEL
. Retrieved
28 December
2020
.
- ^
Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin.
"Christian Karembeu (Player)"
.
www.national-football-teams.com
. Retrieved
12 September
2022
.
- ^
"Christian Karembeu"
.
worldfootball.net
. Retrieved
12 September
2022
.
- ^
"Christian Karembeu"
.
Barry Hugman's Footballers
. Retrieved
28 December
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Christian Karembeu - he's not worth it"
.
The Guardian
. 6 December 2001
. Retrieved
12 February
2020
.
- ^
"Christian Karembeu"
.
L'Equipe
(in French). Paris
. Retrieved
28 December
2020
.
- ^
Treuil, Jean-Paul; Kayi, Elif (16 December 2015).
"Christian Karembeu : "Le FC Gaitcha nous a donne des ailes pour gagner"
"
.
Nouvelle-Caledonie la 1ere
(in French)
. Retrieved
24 May
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Weir, Christopher (21 July 2018).
"Christian Karembeu: The Outsider Who Divided France"
.
These Football Times
. Retrieved
12 April
2020
.
- ^
"From New Caledonia to Stade de France"
.
Pacific Islands Report
. Archived from
the original
on 13 March 2014
. Retrieved
14 October
2013
.
- ^
Sarahs, Paul (24 May 2018).
"Where are they now? Real Madrid's 1998 Champions League winners"
. FourFourTwo
. Retrieved
21 February
2021
.
- ^
"Where are they now? Real Madrid's 1998 Champions League winners"
. FourFourTwo. 24 April 2018
. Retrieved
21 February
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Cox, Michael W. (2019).
Zonal Marking: From Ajax to Zidane, the Making of Modern Soccer
. Bold Type Books.
ISBN
978-1-56858-932-9
. Retrieved
21 February
2021
.
- ^
"Ambassadors UEFA EURO 2020"
. UEFA.com. 5 September 2019
. Retrieved
21 February
2021
.
- ^
Cox, Michael (9 June 2018).
"World Cup favourites forgoing deep-lying playmakers"
.
ESPN.com
. Retrieved
21 February
2021
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
(PDF)
.
202.66.146.82
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 10 August 2011
. Retrieved
13 January
2022
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
"GENERAL MANDATES TO ISSUE AND TO REPURCHASE SHARES, RE-ELECTION OF RETIRING DIRECTORS AND NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING"
(PDF)
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 17 December 2019
. Retrieved
17 December
2019
.
- ^
"Van Persie is more of a killer than Giroud, says Arsenal scout Karembeu - Goal.com"
.
Goal.com
. Retrieved
15 February
2015
.
- ^
FIFA.com
- ^
"Peace and Sport, L'Organisation pour la paix par le sport"
. Retrieved
15 February
2015
.
- ^
Christian Karembeu en Haiti avec des enfants sinistres du seisme
lepoint.fr
, 12 aout 2010
- ^
Political Football: Lilian Thuram
Channel 4
, accessed: 25 December 2011
- ^
"Biographie de Christian Karembeu"
(in French). Le Figaro
. Retrieved
5 September
2017
.
- ^
"Perfect People"
.
perfectpeople.net
. Archived from
the original
on 27 March 2013
. Retrieved
15 February
2015
.
- ^
France Today.
"France Today"
. Archived from
the original
on 15 February 2015
. Retrieved
15 February
2015
.
- ^
"The Marriage of Jackie Chamoun and Christian Karembeu"
.
beiruting.com
. Retrieved
10 April
2018
.
- ^
Fr, Closermag (15 November 2017).
"Christian Karembeu papa : l'ex-footballeur presente sa fille sur Instagram"
.
closermag.fr
. Retrieved
10 April
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"Decret du 24 juillet 1998 portant nomination a titre exceptionnel"
[Decree of 24 July 1998 appointing on an exceptional basis].
Official Journal of the French Republic
(in French).
1998
(170). 25 July 1998. PREX9801916D
. Retrieved
2 January
2021
.
- ^
Christian Karembeu
at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^
a
b
c
"Christian Karembeu"
.
Olympiacos
. Retrieved
12 February
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"Where are they now? Real Madrid's 1998 Champions League winners"
.
Four Four Two
. 24 April 2018
. Retrieved
12 February
2020
.
- ^
"Oceanian Player of the Year"
.
RSSSF
. Retrieved
12 February
2020
.
- ^
"Oscars du football - Trophee special UNFP"
.
Palmares Trophees UNFP
(in French). Archived from
the original
on 2 July 2018
. Retrieved
12 February
2020
.
- ^
"Οι "Golden Eleven" του Θρ?λου!"
.
ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΟΣ - Olympiacos.org
(in Greek). 5 June 2015
. Retrieved
28 January
2023
.
External links
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]
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