Euro 2008 Player Profile: Franck Ribéry

Name: Franck Ribéry
Team: France
Group: C; Italy, Netherlands, Romania
Caps/Goals: 27 (4)
DOB: April 3, 1983 (25)
Position: Attacking midfielder/winger
Club: Bayern Munich

Franck Ribéry first burst into the international tournament scene in World Cup 2006. He’s probably best remembered for breaking Spanish hearts by scoring the equalizing goal in the Group of 16 against Spain, with an amazing run onto a Patrick Vieira delivery. He then followed up that goal (his first for France) with a euphoric airplane-style goal celebration. The team was rejuvenated, and France won the game 3-1.

Since then, he has become one of the absolutely undroppable players on the French squad. If Ribéry is healthy in this tournament, he will play. Few things are certain, but I’d be willing to bet good money on that one. There is nobody else on the team who can replace what he offers: blazing speed up the wing, remarkable dribbling and ball-handling skills, and the ability to deliver the ball to his teammates in dangerous places.

He plays on the right wing, but is equally capable of playing on the left. France’s usual left-winger, Florent Malouda, hasn’t had a great run of form lately, so there’s a chance we might see Franck on either side in this tournament.

He’s also the current designated penalty taker for France. The following video shows the penalty he took in the France-England friendly in March of this year, and also shows us a little about Ribery as a person. After a clinical finish, he removes his shirt to show a tribute to his dead friend, Hicham, and to the French football announcer Thierry Gilardi, who had passed away the night before. Ribéry was promptly booked for removing his shirt. But he plays and lives with great passion, and I can’t imagine him ever choosing not to do something like this just to avoid the card.

Interestingly, Ribéry did not start out as a star. He wasn’t one of the usual choices for the France youth teams, like sometime France teammate Djibril Cisse. Ribéry played in lower-level teams until 2004, when he signed with the France team Metz. In 2005, he moved to Turkey and played for a short while with Galatasaray before the big French team Marseille took notice — also in 2005.

He made a huge splash in Marseille and caught the eye of France coach Raymond Domenech. And the rest is history.

In 2007 he joined his France NT buddy Willy Sagnol at Bayern Munich and immediately became a star and a crowd favorite. His ability to link up with teammate Luca Toni , among others, proved particularly lethal and helped power the team to the Bundesliga championship.

But of course, given the France/Italy thing, there may be a bit of competition between Ribéry and Toni as well? At least that’s what this video implies.

Recent rumors that Ribéry has suffered an ankle injury have sent shudders through France fans. We’re all relying on him to do his thing and get the team out of the Group of Death. Fortunately reports are that the ankle knock is minor, and he’s expected to play in the opener against Romania on Monday.

This is a good thing. If France can manage to advance, you can bet that a lot of it will be because of play from Franck Ribéry.

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