Romain Métanire (born 28 March 1990) is a 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 plays as a defender. He has previously played in France for

FC Metz Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

and

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mo ...

, with whom he won

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

in 2017–18, as well as in Belgium with

KV Kortrijk Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk (often simply called KV Kortrijk or KVK) is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division, and they achieved their best ranking ever during the 20 ...

. Born in France, he plays for the Madagascar national team.

Club career

Metz

Métanire was born in

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, but has origins in

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

. Having joined

at the age of six, he started his career in the club's reserve team and made his debut in the

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

(CFA) on 11 October 2008, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw away at

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

. He made three further substitute appearances in the 2008–09 season as the reserve side was relegated to the

CFA 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a Association football, football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football ...

. He made his first start for Metz B in the 5–2 home win over

Pontarlier Pontarlier ( ; Latin: ''Ariolica'') is a Communes of France, commune and one of the two Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectures of the Doubs Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eastern ...

on 15 August 2009. He went on to play 19 matches during the campaign, becoming a regular fixture in the team that gained promotion back to the CFA as winners of their group. He also scored the first goal of his career in the 2–1 victory away at Troyes B on 21 March 2010. As a result of his performances in the reserve team, Métanire was selected on the substitutes' bench for the match away at

Clermont Foot Clermont Foot 63 (Occitan: ''Clarmont d'Auvèrnhe''; commonly referred to as Clermont Foot) is a French professional football club based in Clermont-Ferrand, France. It competes in Ligue 2. The first incarnation of the club was formed in 1911 and ...

on 29 October 2010. He entered play in the 89th minute, replacing Belgian midfielder Gaëtan Englebert. He again appeared as a late substitute the following week in the home defeat to

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, before returning to the B team. He played 29 CFA matches for the reserves during the 2010–11 season. Métanire was handed his first senior start in the final Ligue 2 match of the campaign, as Metz were beaten 4–3 away to Evian TG. In the 2011–12 season, Métanire established himself as Metz' first-choice right-back, starting in all of the side's first 21 matches of the campaign. On 5 February 2016, he scored a goal against

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), known as AS Nancy Lorraine, and more commonly as Nancy, is a French football club founded in 1967 and based in Nancy, Grand Est. The club plays its home matches at the Stade Marcel Picot located in Tomb ...

in injury time. In reference to the occasion, t-shirts were sold with the message "Je t’aime comme un but de Métanire à la 91e". In his time at Metz, he made 180 league appearances scoring two goals.

Kortrijk

On 15 July 2016, Métanire left Metz for Belgian club

Reims

On 18 January 2017, after just six months with Kortrijk, Métanire returned to his native France joining

Stade Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mos ...

on a 1.5-year contract. Métanire helped

win the

2017–18 Ligue 2 The 2017–18 Ligue 2 (referred to as the Domino's Ligue 2 for sponsorship reasons) season was the 79th season since its establishment. Teams There are 20 clubs in the league, with three promoted teams from Championnat National replacing the t ...

and promote to the

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 ...

for the 2018–19 season.

Minnesota United

On 25 January 2019, Métanire signed with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

club Minnesota United. Following the 2022 season, his contract option was declined by Minnesota.

Seraing

On 6 September 2023, Métanire signed a one-year contract with

Seraing Seraing (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-M ...

in Belgium. On 1 January 2024, Métanire's contract was terminated as he asked to rejoin his family in the US.

Spokane Velocity

Métanire joined

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

expansion club

Spokane Velocity Spokane Velocity FC is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Spokane, Washington. The Velocity compete in USL League One, the third tier of the United States soccer league system, U.S. soccer pyramid, and play home ...

on 23 January 2024. He scored the first home goal five minutes into the home opener for Spokane in a 2-1 victory. Spokane opted not to renew his contract following their 2024 season.

International career

Métanire was born in France, and is of Malagasy descent. He was called up to the Madagascar national team on 11 August 2018. He made his debut for Madagascar in a 2–2

2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the 32nd edition of the international men's association footbal ...

tie with

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

on 9 September 2018.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Metz *

: 2013–14, 2017–18 Minnesota United * U.S. Open Cup runner-up:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * UNFP Ligue 2 Team of the Year: 2013–14 *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

* Knight Order of Madagascar: 2019

References

External links

* *
Romain Métanire career statistics
at FootNational * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metanire, Romain 1990 births Living people Footballers from Metz French people of Réunion descent French sportspeople of Malagasy descent Malagasy men's footballers French men's footballers Men's association football defenders Madagascar men's international footballers 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Belgian Pro League players Major League Soccer players Challenger Pro League players FC Metz players K.V. Kortrijk players Stade de Reims players Minnesota United FC players R.F.C. Seraing (1922) players Spokane Velocity players French expatriate men's footballers Malagasy expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Malagasy expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in the United States Malagasy expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Madagascar 21st-century French sportsmen