Christian Lali Kake Karembeu (born 3 December 1970) 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

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. He is currently the

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

for

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. Karembeu represented Nantes,

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

, Real Madrid,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, Olympiacos,

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

, and

Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...

. He found much success on the national stage as well representing

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, 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 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 wa ...

campaign.

Early life

Karembeu was born in Lifou, New Caledonia, a

French overseas territory Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decoloni ...

in the Pacific Islands. He played youth football for Nouméa-based FC Naitcha. At the age of 17, he moved to France on a scholarship to study and play football.

Club career

During his career Karembeu played for Nantes (1990–95),

(1995–97), Real Madrid (1997–2000),

(2000–01),

(2001–04), Servette Genève (2004–05),

(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 Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

for

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 Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. He spent the first decade of his playing career playing i ...

Les Ferdinand Leslie Ferdinand MBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit, who is currently the director of football at Queens Park Rangers. A striker, his playing career included notable sp ...

and

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his car ...

International career

Born in the French territory of New Caledonia, he was able to represent

on the international stage. He compiled 53

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 Ja ...

in his career, earning his first one 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 ...

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. He was also part of the victorious French team at

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 ...

Style of play

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 In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills, stamina, and hard-tackling playing style; 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 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 ...

. 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."

Post-retirement career

On 9 December 2005, Karembeu represented the Oceania Football Confederation at the draw for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

which took place in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, Germany. In May 2006 Karembeu became a scout for English Premiership side

Portsmouth Football Club Portsmouth Football Club is a professional football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which compete in . They are also known as ''Pompey'', a local nickname used by both HMNB Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth; the ''Pompey'' nick ...

. In 2007, he was appointed as non-executive director of

Birmingham International Holdings Birmingham Sports Holdings () is an investment holding company owned by Chinese businessman Paul Suen through his investment company Trillion Trophy Asia. History Registered in the Cayman Islands, Grandtop International Holdings Limited (GIH), t ...

. He left after 2010 annual general meeting. However, in August 2009, Karembeu decided to join Arsenal's ever expanding scouting network. In June 2013, Karembeu was handed an administrative role at

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

club

along with former

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n footballer Pierre Issa.

Commitment

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 Peace and Sport, also known as "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport" is a neutral and independent organization based in the Principality of Monaco and under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Peace and Sport work in areas acros ...

, a

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

-based international organization. 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.

Personal life

The great-grandfather of Karembeu, who came from New Caledonia, was one of a hundred

Kanaks The Kanak (French spelling until 1984: Canaque) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. According to the 2019 census, the Kanak make up 41.2% of New Caledo ...

taken to Paris in 1931 for the

Paris Colonial Exposition The Paris Colonial Exhibition (or "''Exposition coloniale internationale''", International Colonial Exhibition) was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France, in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resour ...

and exhibited there as "cannibals". Later the "cannibals" were swapped with Germany for some crocodiles. Karembeu refuses to sing France's national anthem,

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

, due to the colonial past of the country. Karembeu was married to Slovak model Adriana Sklenařiková, whom he met on an aeroplane. The couple split in March 2011 and divorced in December 2012. Their marriage was childless. In May 2017, Karembeu married

Jackie Chamoun Jackie Chamoun (born 21 October 1991) is a Lebanese alpine skier. As the age of 14, she started participating in professional skiing events ( slalom and giant slalom) all around the world. She participated in FIS Alpine World Ski Championships ...

, a Lebanese skier, in

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 ...

, followed by a wedding ceremony in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. The couple announced the birth of their daughter on 27 September 2017. Following the 1998 World Cup, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1998.

Television

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

Club

International

Honours

Nantes * Division 1: 1994–95 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

runner-up:

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

Real Madrid *

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 competi ...

: 1997–98, 1999–2000 Olympiacos *

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 2001–02, 2002–03 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

runner-up: 2001–02, 2003–04 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 ...

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 s ...

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 conte ...

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 S ...

* FIFA Confederations Cup: 2001 Individual *

Oceania Footballer of the Year The Oceania Footballer of the Year award is presented each year to the best football (soccer) player from the Oceania region, as chosen by a panel of football journalists. The award was dominated by Australian players until that nation became part ...

: 1995, 1998 * UNFP 20 Year Special Team Trophy: 2011 Orders * Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karembeu, Christian Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French footballers New Caledonian footballers France international footballers Association football midfielders SC Bastia players Servette FC players Olympiacos F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Greece FC Nantes players Middlesbrough F.C. players U.C. Sampdoria players Serie A players La Liga players Real Madrid CF players 1998 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players UEFA European Championship-winning players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players 1970 births Living people Premier League players Portsmouth F.C. non-playing staff Ligue 1 players Super League Greece players Swiss Super League players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Switzerland French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland People from the Loyalty Islands French people of New Caledonian descent Black French sportspeople Kanak people