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Coupet withDijon in 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Grégory Coupet[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1972-12-31)31 December 1972 (age 52)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Bordeaux (goalkeeping coach) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1977–1990 | Olympique Le Puy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1993 | Saint-Étienne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1997 | Saint-Étienne | 88 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2008 | Lyon | 370 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Atlético Madrid | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Paris Saint-Germain | 31 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 495 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2008 | France | 34 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Lyon B (goalkeeping coach) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Lyon (goalkeeping coach) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Dijon (goalkeeping coach) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Bordeaux (goalkeeping coach) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grégory Coupet (French pronunciation:[ɡʁeɡɔʁikupɛ]; born 31 December 1972) is a French former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper.
Coupet is most well known for his lengthy career atLyon where he won sevenLigue 1 titles. He also played forSaint-Étienne,Atlético Madrid andParis Saint-Germain, as well as theFrance national team.
Coupet was born inLe Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire.[3] He began his club career with hometown team Club Olympique Le Puy, before turning professional withSaint-Étienne in 1994. He made hisLigue 1 debut on 26 March 1994 in a 2–0 victory againstAngers.[3] After three seasons, he surprisingly moved to league rivalLyon (the two cities are only 80 kilometres apart, and are long-time local and national rivals) as a replacement forPascal Olmeta in January 1997.[4] His gamble paid off as Lyon have regularly dominatedLe Championnat since 2002 and were also regular fixtures in theUEFA Champions League.
Coupet performed a memorable double save againstBarcelona during a2001–02 UEFA Champions League match, when he first acrobatically headed an unintended lob by his team-mateCaçapa onto his own crossbar, and then immediately parried a close header by the arriving Barcelona strikerRivaldo.[5][6]
He openly wept during the group photo before France facedTurkey in a2003 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final match, which had taken place just hours after the shocking death of his close friend and former Lyon teammateMarc-Vivien Foé.[7] Coupet credits the aftermath of Foé's death in helping him gain a new perspective on life, in the process settling his differences with Lyon after having been engaged in a contract dispute for most of the 2002–03 season, which included at one point his vowing never to play for the club again.[citation needed]
In 2005, Coupet was voted for the first time, at age 33, into the top 10 for theIFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper Award. He finished with 43 votes in fourth-place behind winnerPetr Čech,Dida andGianluigi Buffon respectively. He has also twice been named Ligue 1 Keeper of the Year, in 2004 and 2005.[8]
On 2 August 2007, Coupet suffered a torn internal medial ligament in his left knee after catching his foot in the net during a training session. He underwent surgery four days later and missed the remainder of 2007, including France's finalEuro 2008 qualifiers. He later joked on Lyon's official television network:
"The good side...is that [France] have arugby World Cup coming and I’ll be able to enjoy every bit of it."[9]
Coupet returned to the squad in the new year, making his return in Lyon's 4–0 victory overLigue 2 sideCréteil in theCoupe de France on 6 January 2008.[10]
On 18 July 2008, Coupet was sold toAtlético Madrid for €1.5 million and an additional €250,000 bonus.[11]
In 2009 Coupet joinedParis Saint-Germain where he finished his career before retiring in 2011. In the2011 Coupe de France Final againstLille OSC he saved a penalty fromMathieu Debuchy, but was unable to prevent his side from losing 1–0.[12]
Coupet has 34caps withFrance. He made his international debut againstAustralia during France's2001 FIFA Confederations Cup-winning campaign. He was called up for the2002 World Cup as the backup toFabien Barthez, but did not play. The following year, Coupet kept three clean sheets and conceded only three goals in five games as France won the2003 Confederations Cup, which marked their second victory in the competition in three years. During a commemoration for the lateCameroon player Marc-Vivien Foé, Coupet broke down in tears, since they both were teammates while playing for Lyon in the French league.[citation needed]
In February 2006,France Football magazine conducted a poll among its readers as to who should be France's first-choice goalkeeper for the2006 World Cup; Coupet received 69 percent of the votes (Barthez received 28 percent).[13]
Though Coupet started six of ten games in the2006 World Cup qualifying rounds, coachRaymond Domenech surprisingly elected Barthez as his number one, which would relegate Coupet to the bench once again. Many had expected Coupet to be chosen as the starter due to his excellent performances with Lyon that had contributed greatly to their streak of five Ligue 1 championships. This ultimately led to a row on 25 May 2006 between Coupet and Domenech that resulted in Coupet storming out of the team's training camp inTignes with his family in tow, although he later returned and made amends with the coach.[14]
Coupet became France's number one after Barthez announced his retirement from both club and country football in August 2006. His first regular stint – during theUEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers – however, got off to a less-than-desired start; France were upset byScotland 1–0 on 7 October and a hand injury suffered in that match kept him out of France's 5–0 victory over theFaroe Islands four days later, being replaced byMickaël Landreau.[15]
He was first choice goalkeeper for the tournament proper stage ofEuro 2008, conceding six goals in three matches as France were eliminated in the group stage.
During the2010 World Cup qualifiers,Hugo Lloris andSteve Mandanda were favored by Domenech for the goalkeeping job, with Coupet called up as a reserve for a few games. Coupet was not selected to France's finalWorld Cup squad, asCédric Carrasso instead was chosen to join Lloris and Mandanda on the roster.
On 1 July 2010, Coupet announced his retirement from international football, saying, "I will be 39 years old whenEuro 2012 commences, and I can't see myself being included in another squad for France, with Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda favoured over me. It happened with Fabien Barthez, he was just too good for me. When he retired, I thought I'd have 4–6 years as France's number 1, but of course it isn't to be as it seems. I therefore declare my retirement from international football, and will not be included in any more France squads. I will not reconsider my retirement now, as I have made up my mind."
After retiring from professional football in 2011, he worked as a sports consultant forRMC radio as well as the CFoot andbeIN Sport television channels. In July 2016, Coupet returned toLyon as goalkeeper coach for the club's B-team.[16] In November 2017, Lyon confirmed that Coupet would continue as goalkeeping coach of Lyon'sLigue 1 team from the New Year.[17] On 20 May 2020, Lyon confirmed that Coupet would leave the club at the end of the season, as his contract was expiring. It was further confirmed that Coupet would continue his career atDijon FCO, also as goalkeeping coach.[18]
On 17 January 2022, Coupet left Dijon and instead joinedFC Girondins de Bordeaux, also as a goalkeeping coach.[19]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Saint-Étienne | 1993–94 | Division 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1994–95 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 0 | ||||
| 1995–96 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 0 | ||||
| 1996–97 | Division 2 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | |||
| Total | 88 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 101 | 0 | ||||
| Lyon | 1996–97 | Division 1 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 1997–98 | 31 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11[c] | 0 | — | 49 | 0 | |||
| 1998–99 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8[d] | 0 | — | 45 | 0 | |||
| 1999–2000 | 34 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8[e] | 0 | — | 52 | 0 | |||
| 2000–01 | 32 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 14[f] | 0 | — | 61 | 0 | |||
| 2001–02 | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10[g] | 0 | — | 50 | 0 | |||
| 2002–03 | Ligue 1 | 35 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[h] | 0 | 1[i] | 0 | 50 | 0 | |
| 2003–04 | 35 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9[f] | 0 | 1[i] | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8[f] | 0 | 1[i] | 0 | 44 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | 37 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9[f] | 0 | 1[i] | 0 | 52 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7[f] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | 1[i] | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
| Total | 370 | 0 | 55 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 94 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 541 | 0 | ||
| Atlético Madrid | 2008–09 | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 2[f] | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain | 2009–10 | Ligue 1 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1[j] | 0 | 1[i] | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| Total | 31 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 495 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 97 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 699 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2001 | 1 | 0 |
| 2002 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 34 | 0 | |
Lyon[3]
Paris Saint-Germain
France[3]
Individual