Guillaume Hoarau
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Guillaume Hoarau (born 5 March 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a
forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...
.


Club career


Early career

Hoarau started his football career at
JS Saint-Pierroise Jeunesse Sportive Saint-Pierroise or JSSP is a French football club from Saint-Pierre, Réunion. Its most notable player is Roger Milla, from the Cameroon national football team. Achievements *Réunion Premier League: 21 ::1956, 1957, 1959, 19 ...
in his native Réunion. In 1995, Le Havre AC scouts considered him too "thin" and signed his then-teammate Florent Sinama Pongolle. After gaining the attention of then-Le Havre manager Jean-François Domergue, Hoarau signed his first professional contract at the age of 20 for Le Havre in January 2004. He made his league debut on 12 May 2004 against Châteauroux in a 2–1 loss, coming on as a substitute. Despite being signed, Hoarau spent the majority of his career under Domergue playing in the reserves, often earning brief call-ups to the senior squad, then quickly being sent down. He registered his first career goal in just the second match of the 2004–05 season in a 2–1 victory over Amiens. Despite this, his play was heavily limited following the firing of Domergue and the appointment of temporary manager Philippe Hinschberger. During the following season under new manager Thierry Uvenard, his playing time increased—he appeared in 28 matches, scoring five goals. The next season, he only made five appearances for Le Havre before being sent on loan to Gueugnon, where he made 21 appearances and scored eight goals.


Ligue 2 star

Under new manager Jean-Marc Nobilo, his fourth manager in four years, Hoarau was installed as the lead striker and flourished. Playing in all 38 league matches, he was top scorer with 28 goals and, at one point during the season, scored at least one goal in 12-straight matches. His performances led to the French media naming him the " Karim Benzema of
Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...
", as Benzema was having a similar season in
Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
. His performances caught the eye of several Ligue 1 clubs, such as Auxerre, Marseille, and Paris Saint-Germain to name a few, as well as English clubs
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea, who likened the player to Peter Crouch. Eventually, it was announced in January 2008 that Hoarau had signed with Parisian club Paris Saint-Germain on a four-year deal after reportedly snubbing the club's primary rival, Marseille. PSG paid Le Havre fee of €500,000 and also allowed the player to finish the Ligue 2 season with his former club, whom he helped achieve promotion to Ligue 1.


Paris Saint-Germain

Hoarau arrived in Paris following the Ligue 2 season with high expectations, as he was expected to replace club legend Pauleta and live up to comments made by former president Alain Cayzac, who referred to Hoarau as being the "signing of the century" for PSG.Hoarau prend le Paris
He made his debut for the club in a 1–0 defeat at Monaco on 9 August 2008. After going scoreless the first week, Hoarau responded in the second week scoring his first goal for the club on his home debut in a 1–0 victory over Bordeaux. His breakthrough into the team came in the annual '' Classique'' against rivals Marseille on 26 October 2008. In a huge 4–2 victory for the club, Hoarau scored a brace. He followed this up by scoring another brace, this time against his former club Le Havre in a 3–1 victory. His next set of goals were against
Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
, earning another brace in another 3–1 victory. Hoarau also continued his solid form on the European stage scoring a brace in the club's first leg match against VfL Wolfsburg on 18 February 2009 in the
2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Cup football tournament. The final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe, in Istanbul on 20 May 2009. This season was the final one to use the UEFA Cup for ...
. In total for the season, Hoarau made 45 appearances, 32 in league play, and scored 20 goals, 17 in league play, contributing to the club's successful season where they reached as high as the second position in the league and made it to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. Due to his great performances, Hoarau was linked to several clubs, most notably Lyon, who offered €10 million for the player's services. Both Hoarau and PSG, however, downplayed the offer and, two days later, Hoarau signed a contract extension until 2013. Following his successful first season in Paris, Hoarau struggled to reproduce the same kind of form. The arrival of new striker Mevlüt Erdinç failed to ignite a successful partnership, with both players often injured and profligate in front of goal whenever they managed to play. Hoarau did however score the winning goal for PSG in extra time in the 2010 Coupe de France Final. Since the signing of new striker Kevin Gameiro in the summer of 2011, both Hoarau and Erdinç were relegated to the substitutes' bench, and the former suffered a serious injury on the very first day of the 2011–12 season. Hoarau was linked with a loan move to
Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...
. On the last day of the 2011–12 season, with
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
and PSG both chasing the Ligue 1 title, Hoarau suffered an injury in a match against Lorient, with Montpeillier going on to win their first league title. In the 2012–13 season, Hoarau featured less for the club and was placed on the transfer list despite being out of contract at the end of the season. Upon his departure to Dalin Aerbin, Hoarau appeared at
Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
, where he made a farewell speech and was left emotional, saying, "Nothing has changed. I'm a little excited. I have a small tear in the eye."


Dalian Aerbin

On 9 January 2013, Hoarau signed with Chinese Super League side Dalian Aerbin. On the same day, he was presented by the club. His move to China received objection by commentator Jean-Michel Larqué. Hoarau made his debut in the opening game of the season, coming on as a substitute in the 69th minutes for Zhou Tong, in a 1–0 loss against Shandong Luneng. Hoarau scored his first goal three weeks later, on 30 March 2013, in a 3–3 draw against newly promoted Shanghai East Asia. Two weeks later, on 14 April 2013, Hoarau scored again in a 2–1 loss against reigning league champion Guangzhou Evergrande. Hoarau later struggled to score despite having earned himself as first team regular. His lack of scoring lead the club recruit
Nabil Baha Nabil Baha (Arabic: نبيل باها; born 12 August 1981) is a retired footballer who played as a striker. He started playing for Montpellier in 2000 and spent much of his career in the top divisions of Portugal and Spain, with notable stin ...
as their new striker, with the club considering selling Hoarau during the summer transfer window. Eventually, Hoarau would stay at the club for the season and would help the club finish in fifth in the league table. Upon the conclusion of the 2013 season, Chinese media Sina Sports reported that Hoarau was among several foreign players to leave Dalian Aerbin. Four days later, the club confirmed the departure of Hoarau, who would return to France.


Bordeaux

After one season in China, Hoarau returned to France by joining Ligue 1 side Bordeaux until the end of the 2013–14 season. Prior to the move, Hoarau was also linked with Marseille. The move to Marseille did not transpire, as Hoarau preferred moving elsewhere.


Young Boys

In the summer of 2014, Hoarau left Bordeaux and joined Swiss side BSC Young Boys. He was part of the Young Boys squad that won the
2017–18 Swiss Super League The 2017–18 Swiss Super League (referred to as the Raiffeisen Super League for sponsoring reasons) was the 121st season of top-tier competitive football in Switzerland and the 15th under its current name and format. Basel were the defending c ...
, their first league title in 32 years. In the play-off round of the Champions League campaign the following season, Hoarau scored goals in both legs against Dinamo Zagreb, which took Young Boys to the group stages for the first time ever. He scored twice more in the final group game on 12 December, a surprise 2–1 defeat of Italian giants
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 ...
. Despite the victory, Young Boys still finished bottom of the group on four points.


Sion

On 18 September 2020, Hoarau signed with fellow Swiss side Sion.


Retirement

In August 2022, at the age of 38, Hoarau announced his retirement from professional playing.


International career

On 23 March 2009, Hoarau was called up to the France national team to replace the injured Nicolas Anelka on the squad.


Personal life

In addition to football, Hoarau has a strong passion for making music and has sung live on French TV.


Career statistics


Club


Honours

Le Havre *
Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...
: 2007–08 Paris Saint-Germain *
Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
:
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
* Coupe de France: 2009–10 Young Boys *
Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...
: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 *
Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...
: 2019–20 Individual * Ligue 2 Player of the Year: 2007–08 *
Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...
Top Scorer: 2007–08 (28 goals) * Ligue 2 Team of the Year: 2007–08 * Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2008–09Le palmarès 2009 complet
* Coupe de France Final Man of the Match:
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
* Swiss Super League Player of the Year: 2016 *
Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...
Team of the Year: 2016–17, 2018–19 *
Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...
Top Scorer: 2018–19 (24 goals) *
Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...
Goal of the Year: 2018–19


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoarau, Guillaume 1984 births Living people Association football forwards Footballers from Réunion French footballers France international footballers JS Saint-Pierroise players Le Havre AC players FC Gueugnon players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Dalian Professional F.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players BSC Young Boys players FC Sion players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Chinese Super League players Swiss Super League players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Switzerland French expatriate sportspeople in China French expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland