Gaëtane Iza Laure Thiney (born 28 October 1985) is a French former

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

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 ...

or striker. She spent most of her career with

Première Ligue The Première Ligue ( ; sponsor name Arkema Première Ligue) is a professional women's association football league at the highest level of the French football league system, and is run by the Ligue féminine de football professionnel (LFFP). ...

club

Paris FC Paris Football Club (French pronunciation: Help:IPA/French, aʁi futbol klœb, commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris, France. They will compete in Ligue ...

. Thiney was also a member of the France national team, making her first major tournament appearance with her nation at

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

. She is a two-time winner of the Division 1 Féminine

player of the year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

award.

Club career

Thiney began her career playing for ASS Brienne-le-Château in the commune of

Brienne-le-Château Brienne-le-Château () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. It is located from the right bank of the river Aube and 26 miles northeast of Troyes. History It was the centre of the medieval County of Brienne, whose lo ...

, which is 26 miles northeast of her hometown

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

. After a stint in the youth system, she moved a few miles north to Olympique Saint-Memmie, who were playing in the first division of French women's football. She made her league debut with Saint-Memmie during the 2000–01 season. Thiney spent six seasons at the club and, following the 2005–06 season, secured a moved to US Compiègne Oise in

Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...

. In her first season with the club, she appeared in 21 matches and scored five goals. Unfortunately, Compiègne suffered relegation to the second division. Thiney spent her final season with the club in D2 Féminine and was easily the best player in the team appearing in 18 matches and scoring a team-leading 20 goals. Thiney's successful play earned her a call up to the national team and also a move to top-tier club

FCF Juvisy Paris FC is a French women's football club based in Viry-Châtillon, a suburb of Paris. The club is the female section of Ligue 1 men's club Paris FC. The club was founded in 1971 and currently play in the Première Ligue, the first division ...

. In Thiney's first season with Juvisy, she appeared in 21 matches and scored seven goals helping Juvisy finish in 3rd position, one point shy of qualifying for the newly created

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

. In the 2009–10 season, Thiney remained potent on the field scoring nine goals helping Juvisy finish runner-up to

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

in the league, which inserted the club into the 2010–11 edition of the

. In the competition, she scored a goal in the first qualifying round against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n club Levadia Tallinn in a 12–0 win. After contributing to Juvisy reaching the knockout stage, Thiney increased her contribution by scoring a goal in each leg of the team's 9–0 aggregate victory over

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic club Breiðablik in the Round of 32. Juvisy ultimately suffered elimination in the competition at the hands of the defending champions

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

. In league play, Thiney converted 11 goals, second-best on the team behind lead striker Laëtitia Tonazzi. Juvisy, however, finished the season in a disappointing 4th place. Thiney retired from professional football in May 2025.

International career

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Thiney made her international debut on 28 February 2007 in a 2–0 victory over

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. During

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

, she scored two goals against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. In the tournament, she scored her only goal in France's 1–5 group stage defeat to the eventual champions

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. France reached as far as the quarterfinals losing to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

4–5 on penalties. On 28 October 2009, Thiney scored her first career

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in a

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

qualification match against

in a 12–0 victory. Thiney finished the qualification campaign with a team-high 12 goals, including a goal in the team's 3–2 second leg World Cup playoff victory over

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, which allowed France qualification to the competition. At the World Cup, Thiney was the decisive player in the team's second group stage match against

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scoring a double in a 4–0 win. The victory allowed France progression to the knockout stage portion of the competition.

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of 26 July 2022.

International

International goals

Honours

Paris FC *

Coupe de France Féminine The Coupe de France Féminine (, ''Women's French Cup'') is the top annual cup tournament for French women's football clubs. The competition is open to all professional and non-professional women's teams in France. Founded in 2001 as Challenge ...

: 2024–25 France *

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is an annual competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belon ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual *

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

team of the tournament:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* UNFP Première Ligue player of the year: 2011–12, 2013–14 *

top scorer: 2013–14 * LFFP Première Ligue team of the season: 2015–16

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thiney, Gaetane 1985 births Living people Footballers from Troyes French women's footballers France women's international footballers Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards Paris FC (women) players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for France FIFA Women's Century Club Première Ligue players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players National Women's Soccer League players French expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States French expatriate sportspeople in the United States UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players 21st-century French sportswomen