Bixente Jean-Michel Lizarazu (, born 9 December 1969) is a French former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, among other teams. He also had 97

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the France national team. In a twelve-year international career from 1992 to 2004, Lizarazu played in three European championships and two World Cups for France, winning the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

and

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Early life

Lizarazu was born in

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz (; eu, Donibane Lohitzune,Donibane Lohitzune
Auñamendi Ency ...

, Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Club career

Bordeaux

An enthusiast in several sports from a young age, Lizarazu began his professional career with

, joining the club's youth setup as a 15-year-old in 1984 and initially playing as a winger. After being told he would not make a career from football due to his frail physicality as a teenager, he impressed the staff with his determination and became a member of the senior squad in 1988 alongside forward

Christophe Dugarry Christophe Jérôme Dugarry (born 24 March 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. His clubs include Bordeaux, Milan, Barcelona, Marseille, Birmingham City and Qatar SC. He was also a member of the France team ...

. He was retrained to play as a counter-attacking left back at the suggestion of coach

Didier Couécou Didier Couécou (born 25 July 1944) is a former French footballer who played striker. He was part of France national football team at the FIFA World Cup 1966 The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football t ...

and soon replaced the veteran

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of the Nigerian national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, whe ...

(later to be the club's manager) in the position. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Bordeaux finished runners-up in the French championship, but the following year they were administratively relegated amid financial problems. Lizarazu remained with the club and helped them immediately regain their top tier status in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. The club also signed

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...

, who became another important element of the team, which went on to achieve two 4th- and a 7th-place finish over the next three seasons, Lizarazu contributing 101 appearances and 15 goals. In summer 1995, Bordeaux won the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

to qualify for the 1995–96 UEFA Cup. They would go all the way to

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

under coach Rohr, beating

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

and

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in ...

before losing to

5–1 on aggregate. However their league form suffered, dropping to 16th. Following

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

, in which Dugarry, Zidane and Lizarazu were part of the French squad which reached the semi-finals, the three moved abroad seeking a new challenge: Zidane joining

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, Dugarry going to Milan and Lizarazu staying local but changing nations by moving to

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

, based the same distance from his home in the

French Basque Country The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country ( eu, Iparralde (), french: Pays basque, es, País Vasco francés) is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitu ...

. He appeared 299 times for his formative club, scoring 28 goals.

Athletic Bilbao

Lizarazu spent just one season with the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club after becoming the first Frenchman to play for Athletic, which has a policy of selecting only players of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

birth or heritage. Suffering from a persistent groin injury, 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 Luis Miguel Fernández Toledo (born 2 October 1959), known as Luis Fernandez, is a French football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Fernandez spent most of his playing career for Paris Saint-Germain. He earned 6 ...

. In the 1997 close season, he transferred to Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich

Before even playing a

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

match, Lizarazu lifted a trophy with his new club, winning the inaugural edition of the preseason

DFL-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous B ...

. It was the start of a highly successful spell in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, despite the interruption of some serious injuries, as he went on to win six

championships (including three in a row between

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

), as well as five

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

s, the Champions League in

(scoring his penalty in the

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

), and the Intercontinental Cup. 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. Lizarazu said that he would leave Bayern in the summer of 2004 and eventually signed with

Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

. However, after only six months back in France, he returned to Bayern Munich in January 2005. During his second spell with Bayern, ending in 2006 when he gave way to the emerging

Philipp Lahm Philipp Lahm (; born 11 November 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played as a full-back. Considered by many to be one of the greatest full-backs of all time, Lahm was the captain of Bayern Munich, having led them to numerous ...

, 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. He made 268 appearances in all competitions for Bayern between 1997 and 2006, scoring eight goals. 183 of these games were in the German top-flight.

International career

Lizarazu was capped 97 times for France (for the first time on 14 November 1992 against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

), scoring two goals, and helped them win the

and

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, starting in the final of both tournaments. He retired from international football after France were surprisingly eliminated by eventual winners

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

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 Crosses may refer to: * Cross, the symbol Geography * Crosses, Cher, a French municipality * Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas Language * Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...

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.

Personal life

After retirement, Lizarazu got involved in

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

. He competed in a jiu-jitsu competition in Europe in 2009, where he became European champion in the Blue Belt Senior 1 Light Division. He is also a keen surfer and works as a football pundit for French television and radio. In 2013, Lizarazu was described as a "tramp" by his successor as France's left back,

Patrice Evra Patrice Latyr Evra (; born 15 May 1981) is a French football coach and former professional player. Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. His ...

, after he and other pundits criticised Evra for giving an impromptu team talk during half-time of a

2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil. The remaining 31 places were determined by ...

match against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. Lizarazu was formerly engaged to singer

Elsa Lunghini Elsa Lunghini, stage name Elsa (born 20 May 1973), is a French singer and actress. She was a teenage pop-star in the late-1980s. In 1986, she was the youngest singer to reach number one in the French charts, with the single " T'en va pas", and sh ...

from 1999 to 2006. Lizarazu is a native speaker of

and French. In addition, he also speaks

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Bordeaux * Division 2: 1991–92 *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

runner-up: 1995–96 Bayern Munich *

: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 *

: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

: 2000–01; runner-up: 1998–99 * Intercontinental Cup:

France *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Individual *

ESM Team of the Year The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine fo ...

: 1998–99 *

UEFA Team of the Year The UEFA Fan's Team of the Year is a football award given by UEFA through a poll on its official website. This award started in 2001 and allows users of the organization's website to choose their own eleven players and a coach based on their ove ...

FIFA XI FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

: 2002 * Équipe type spéciale 20 ans des trophées UNFP: 2011 Orders * Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lizarazu, Bixente 1969 births Living people People from Saint-Jean-de-Luz French-Basque people French footballers France international footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Lizaru, Bixente Olympique de Marseille players FC Bayern Munich footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Bundesliga players Expatriate footballers in Germany La Liga players Expatriate footballers in Spain UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players FIFA World Cup-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players UEFA European Championship-winning players Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Association football defenders UEFA Champions League winning players Sportspeople from Pyrénées-Atlantiques French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Basque Country international footballers Footballers from Nouvelle-Aquitaine