.jpg) Micoud in 2006 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Johan Cédric Micoud[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1973-07-24)24 July 1973 (age 52)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1996 | Cannes | 127 | (17) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | Bordeaux | 127 | (27) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2002 | Parma | 47 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Werder Bremen | 123 | (31) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006–2008 | Bordeaux | 61 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 485 | (94) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2004 | France | 17 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Johan Cédric Micoud (born 24 July 1973) is a French former professionalfootballer who played as anattacking midfielder.
He was considered a skilledmidfielder and adead-ball expert. During a 16-year career he played professionally in France, Italy and Germany.
Micoud gained 17caps forFrance, and represented the nation atEuro 2000 and the2002 FIFA World Cup, winning the former tournament.
Born inCannes, Alpes-Maritimes,[2] Micoud grew up inVallauris.[3]
He was a youth product of localAS Cannes' youth system, becoming the side'splaymaker afterZinedine Zidane's departure toGirondins de Bordeaux. He helped the club to promotion from thesecond division in 1993 andqualification to theUEFA Cup inthe following season.[4][5]
Playing behind a strike partnership ofLilian Laslandes andSylvain Wiltord, Micoud played a pivotal role as the club were crownedLigue 1 champions in1998–99, beatingOlympique de Marseille to the title on the final day of the season.[6][7]
The following season he helped the club to theUEFA Champions League's second group stage. He also reached twoCoupe de la Ligue finals with Bordeaux, losing toRC Strasbourg in1997 andParis Saint-Germain in1998.[8]
In the 2000 summer he moved abroad, initially joiningParma where he stayed for two seasons. Although Micoud and Parma won theCoppa Italia, he lost his starting place toHidetoshi Nakata, and was forced out of the club, linked with moves toAston Villa,Liverpool,Schalke 04 andMarseille.[9][10][11]
In August 2002, Micoud moved to Germany, signing forWerder Bremen.[12] He made his debut for the club in a 3-1 win over1. FC Nürnberg, scoring one of Bremen's goals.[13]
Micoud was one of the key players in Bremen's surprise double win in 2004, and scored in the decisive game againstBayern Munich where Bremen secured theBundesliga title.[14] Micoud also scored in every round of the2003–04 DFB-Pokal, except the final.[15] He ended the season with ten goals and eight assists.[16]
After the season, Micoud signed a new contract with Bremen until 2007, and was described by the club's sporting directorKlaus Allofs as 'the best midfielder in the Bundesliga'. It had previously been speculated that Micoud could leave, as he criticised the club for allowing two other key players inAílton andMladen Krstajić to join Schalke.[17] The following season saw Bremen finish third in the league.[18]
In his final season with Bremen, Micoud scored five times in theChampions League, including winners againstUdinese in the group stage andJuventus in the knockouts.[15][19] He also scored eight goals and managed fourteen assists in the Bundesliga as Bremen finished runners-up.[19][20]
Micoud left Bremen to return to former club Bordeaux in 2006, with Klaus Allofs stating that they would not have agreed to sell Micoud to any other club.[21] A friendly match in Bremen'sWeserstadion between the two teams was also organised, where Micoud scored the only goal for Bordeaux and was given a standing ovation by the Bremen fans.[22]
In June 2006, aged 32, rejoined Bordeaux, costing €three million.[23][24] He quickly became a key player in the squad, scoring the winner in his first league match back at the club, atFC Lorient.[25] Micoud helped Bordeaux win the2007League Cup and fight for the titlethe following season. In February 2008, Micoud scored his 50thLigue 1 goal in a 6-0 win againstAS Monaco, Bordeaux's record away win. In March, Micoud was involved in a controversy after being accused of diving to help win a penalty in a crucial game with third-placed Nancy, which Bordeaux would win 2-1.[26][27] However, after two seasons,Laurent Blanc announced on 10 May 2008 that the player's contract would not be renewed, and he retired from the sport.[28]
Despite being called up in theFrance national team on several occasions, Micoud never managed to secure a regular starting role, mainly due to the presence of Zidane who occupied the same position.[6]
Courtesy of his stellar championship performances with Bordeaux, he made his debut on 17 August 1999 in afriendly match withNorthern Ireland, and was subsequently picked for the squad which wonUEFA Euro 2000. Micoud only played in one of the six matches of the tournament, in the group match against theNetherlands, effectively adead rubber given that both nations had already qualified both the group. He assistedChristophe Dugarry's opening goal from a corner, although France eventually lost 3-2.[29]
He was also selected for theFIFA World Cup campaign of2002, and replaced the injured Zidane for the second game, a 0-0 draw with Uruguay.[30]
Regardless of his consistently high level of performance at club level, Micoud found himself subsequently marginalised by the following national bosses. After the World Cup, he was not picked for France again for two years, beforeJacques Santini selected him for a friendly against Holland in March 2004, recognising Micoud's form with Bremen.[31][32]
Santini included Micoud in his preliminary squad forEuro 2004 but he did not make the final squad.[33] UnderRaymond Domenech Micoud did win a single call up for the2006 World Cup qualifiers, and Micoud publicly criticised Domenech for ignoring his Bremen performances, suggesting that Domenech's refusal to pick him may be influenced by Micoud'sstar sign.[34]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | League Cup | Total | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Cannes | 1992–93 | Division 2 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 2 | [35] | ||
| 1993–94 | Division 1 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 3 | [35] | |||
| 1994–95 | Division 1 | 33 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 8 | [35] | |
| 1995–96 | Division 1 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – | 3 | 0 | 36 | 7 | [35] | ||
| Total | 127 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 139 | 19 | |||
| Bordeaux | 1996–97 | Division 1 | 36 | 8 | 4 | 1 | – | 4 | 0 | 44 | 9 | [36] | |
| 1997–98 | Division 1 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 7 | [35] | |
| 1998–99 | Division 1 | 31 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 12 | [35] | |
| 1999–2000 | Division 1 | 31 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 9 | [35] | |
| Total | 127 | 27 | 11 | 2 | 21 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 171 | 37 | |||
| Parma | 2000–01 | Serie A | 29 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | 39 | 7 | [36] | |
| 2001–02 | Serie A | 18 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 26 | 6 | [36] | ||
| Total | 47 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 13 | |||
| Werder Bremen | 2002–03 | Bundesliga | 28 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 7 | [36] |
| 2003–04 | Bundesliga | 32 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | – | 42 | 15 | [36] | ||
| 2004–05 | Bundesliga | 33 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 11 | [36] | |
| 2005–06 | Bundesliga | 30 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 14 | [36] | |
| Total | 123 | 31 | 16 | 7 | 26 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 169 | 47 | |||
| Bordeaux | 2006–07 | Ligue 1 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 43 | 5 | [36] |
| 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 29 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 8 | [36] | |
| Total | 61 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 81 | 13 | |||
| Career total | 485 | 94 | 47 | 15 | 69 | 17 | 24 | 3 | 625 | 129 | |||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 1999 | 2 | 0 |
| 2000 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 17 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 November 2000 | BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey |  Turkey | 3–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
Bordeaux
Parma
Werder Bremen
France
Individual
France squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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