Éric Yves Di Meco (born 7 September 1963) 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 lea ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Di Meco was born in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, Vaucluse. During his career, he played mostly for

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. After starting as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, and serving loans at Nancy and

Martigues Martigues ( in classical norm, ''Lou Martegue'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte. A ...

, he returned definitely in 1988, going on to amass a further 153

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

games in an eventual four-in-a-row run of domestic leagues. After Marseille's relegation at the end of the 1993–94 season, due to irregularities, Di Meco joined

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, still appearing regularly until his 1998 retirement at almost 35 years of age, with another league title conquered.Football: D1 le classement des buteurs SAISON 1996-97
from L'Equipe (Archived fro
the original
on 2011-8-20)

International career

For

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Di Meco won the

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...

in 1994 and was in roster for

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

. After the latter competition, where he acted as backup to the younger

Bixente Lizarazu Bixente Jean Michel Lizarazu (, born 9 December 1969) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He rose through the ranks at Bordeaux, where he was part of a team that finished second in the French First Division in ...

, he retired from international football.

Post-retirement

After retiring from the pitch, Di Meco pursued a career as a politician, acting as

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

for UMP in

. He is also a musician, and in 2020 formed Osiris, an

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment tribute act A tribute act, tribute band, tribute group or tribute artist is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist ...

for which he plays

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Honours

Marseille * Division 1: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 1988–89 * UEFA Champions League/European Cup: 1992–93; runner-up: 1990–91 Monaco *Division 1: 1996–97 France *

: 1994 Orders * Knight of the National Order of Merit: 1996

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Meco, Eric 1963 births Living people Footballers from Avignon French men's footballers Men's association football defenders Olympique de Marseille players AS Nancy Lorraine players FC Martigues players AS Monaco FC players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players France men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Champions League–winning players French city councillors French sportsperson-politicians Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite French sportspeople of Italian descent 20th-century French sportsmen 21st-century French bass guitarists French male bass guitarists