 Cheyrou withMarseille in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benoît Benjamin Cheyrou[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-05-03)3 May 1981 (age 44)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, France | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | La Salesienne (assistant manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1987–1997 | Racing Paris | ||
| 1997–1999 | Lille | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2004 | Lille | 100 | (2) |
| 2004–2007 | Auxerre | 98 | (6) |
| 2007–2014 | Marseille | 219 | (21) |
| 2015–2017 | Toronto FC | 55 | (2) |
| Total | 472 | (31) | |
| International career | |||
| 2002–2003 | France U21 | 14 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2018 | Toronto FC Academy | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Benoît Benjamin Cheyrou (born 3 May 1981) is a French former professionalfootballer who played as acentral midfielder, and often acted as adeep-lying playmaker for the attack. He is the assistant manager of French amateur club La Salesienne de Paris.
He was known for his vision, distribution, and ability to provide assists, and played for France atunder-21 level. His older brother is the formerFrench internationalBruno Cheyrou, who formerly played for English clubLiverpool, and is currently a sports broadcaster. The younger Cheyrou earned his first call up to the national team on 25 February 2010, but unlike his older brother, never made his senior debut for France throughout his playing career.
Cheyrou was born onSuresnes, Hauts-de-Seine.[2] He began his career at his hometown clubRacing Club de France, which served as a family tradition among the Cheyrou household as his grandfather, father, and older brother trained there as young players as well. It is also the place where Cheyrou's father met his mother.[3] During his time as a youth at the club, Cheyrou often played against theParis Saint-Germain youths who were considered more rich and professional than Racing, which led to Cheyrou developing a minor grudge with the Parisian giants. Following Bruno's departure toRC Lens, the younger Cheyrou stayed behind until securing a move toDivision 2 clubLille. That same year, his elder brother joined him at the club.[citation needed]
Cheyrou trained in the club's youth system for two years before earning promotion to the senior team for the1999–2000 season. He made his professional debut on 3 September 1999 appearing as a substitute in a 2–0 victory overToulouse. Four days later, he made his first professional start playing the entire match in a 1–0 victory overWasquehal. Cheyrou remained a fixture in the team until the end of the year before suffering injury. He returned to the team for the2000–01 season with Lille now playing inDivision 1. Cheyrou only made 8 league appearances as he was again limited due to injury. Thenext season saw Cheyrou's appearances increased to 23 league matches with the midfielder also making four appearances in theUEFA Cup. Following the departure of his brother toLiverpool, Cheyrou's importance in the team increased. On 5 October 2002, he scored his first professional goal in a 3–0 victory overMarseille after having appeared as a substitute three minutes prior.[4] After alternating between the bench and first eleven, by mid-season, Cheyrou became a fixture in the starting eleven helping Lille finish in 5th position, thus qualifying for theUEFA Intertoto Cup. In hisfinal season with Lille, Cheyrou appeared in 27 league matches scoring one goal, which came againstGuingamp in a 3–1 defeat.[5]
In 2004, Cheyrou signed with up and coming clubAJ Auxerre who were led by former playerGuy Roux. Inhis first season with the club, who were also playing inEurope, he was inserted as a starter alongside fellow midfieldersPhilippe Violeau andLionel Mathis. Cheyrou appeared in 29 league matches starting 28 of them. He scored his only league goal of the season in a 2–1 loss toLyon as Auxerre finished 8th, three points out of the European places. In theUEFA Cup, Cheyrou appeared in all 8 matches contested as Auxerre reached the quarterfinals where they lost 4–2 on aggregate toRussian clubCSKA Moscow. Cheyrou scored his first career European goal in the Round of 16 second leg match against Dutch clubAjax. The goal evened the match 2–2 on aggregate and the club advance 3–2 following an 86th-minute goal from Mathis. On 4 June 2005, Cheyrou claimed the first major honour of his career following the club's 2–1 victory overSedan in the2005 edition of the Coupe de France final. Cheyrou played the entire match as Auxerre earned the title following a 90th minutegame-winning goal fromBonaventure Kalou.[citation needed]
The2005–06 season saw the arrival of theDaneThomas Kahlenberg, who Cheyrou formed an impressive partnership with. Cheyrou appeared in a career-high 35 matches for the season and also scored two goals, both in shutout victories overSochaux andNantes. Despite suffering early elimination at the hands ofBulgarian clubLevski Sofia in the2005–06 UEFA Cup, the club rebounded in the league finishing in sixth position and, as a result, qualified for theUEFA Intertoto Cup. During theLigue 1 2006–07 season, Cheyrou was namedcaptain of the team and scored in back-to-back matches in September with Auxerre winning both matches. The club reached the UEFA Cup for the third straight season reaching the group stage where they finished a disappointing 4th place in their group. Auxerre also finished out of Europe in the league standings, which prompted an exodus of players looking to continue playing inUEFA competitions, which included Cheyrou.[citation needed]
Following the 2006–07 season, Marseille sporting directorJosé Anigo sought Cheyrou's services after stating he was impressed with the player's performances during the season. On 21 June 2007, after weeks of discussion, Marseille reached an agreement with Auxerre for the transfer of Cheyrou with the player agreeing to a four-year deal and the southern coast club playing Auxerre €5 million for his services.[6] Cheyrou was presented along with new recruitsGaël Givet andLaurent Bonnart and was assigned the number 7 shirt. Cheyrou made his club debut for the team on 4 August 2007 in a 0–0 draw withStrasbourg. Cheyrou formed an amazing three-way midfield partnership with fellow FrenchmanSamir Nasri and the ruggedAlbanianLorik Cana. Cheyrou scored two league goals with both coming in draws againstBordeaux and Lens. Marseille finished in 3rd position after falling behind Lyon and Bordeaux during the latter part of the season. Cheyrou was named to the league's Team of the Year for his performances. He also featured in his first-everUEFA Champions League and impressed playing the entire match in Marseille's upset victory over English clubLiverpool atAnfield. Unfortunately, the club finished third in the group, which meant a return to theUEFA Cup for Cheyrou. In the competition, Marseille reached the Round of 16 before shockingly suffering elimination to Russian clubZenit Saint Petersburg despite being up 3–1 heading into the match atPetrovsky Stadium. Cheyrou scored his only goal in the competition in the team's previous round 3–0 first leg win overSpartak Moscow.[citation needed]
The2008–09 season was arguably Cheyrou's best season of his career. He appeared in 34 league matches scoring three goals and also providing seven assists. His positive play and the team as a whole led to Marseille finishing in 2nd-place position only falling to champions Bordeaux by three points. Cheyrou's score his first two goals on the season in back-to-back weeks againstSaint-Étienne andGrenoble. On 26 April 2009, Cheyrou scored the equalizing goal in Marseille's 2–1 come from behind victory over rivalsLille. He followed up his performance in the Lille match by assisting on two goals in Marseille's 4–0 thumping ofRennes on the final match day of the season. Had Bordeaux lost their match on the final day, Marseille would have been crowned champions. For his performances, Cheyrou was named to the Team of the Year for the second straight season. In Europe, Cheyrou scored a vital away goal in Marseille's 1–0 first leg qualifying round victory overNorwegian clubBrann. In the group stage, Marseille again finished third and played in the UEFA Cup, where the club reached the quarterfinals. In the Round of 32, Marseille advanced 7–6 on penalties with Cheyrou converting his penalty shot. In the following round, Cheyrou scored Marseille's opening goal in their 2–1 first leg win over Ajax. The team later advanced to the quarterfinals after a lateextra time goal fromTyrone Mears in the second leg. The team were later eliminated byUkrainian clubShakhtar Donetsk.[citation needed]
It was confirmed on 29 January 2015 that Benoît had signed a contract withMajor League Soccer clubToronto FC.[7]
On 30 November 2016, Benoît scored the game-winning goal in extra-time for Toronto FC, a minute after coming on as a substitution for the injuredSebastian Giovinco in the second leg of the MLS Eastern Conference Final overMontreal Impact, sending Toronto FC to theMLS Cup Final with an eventual 7–5 aggregate win.[8] In the final, held on 10 December atBMO Field, Toronto were defeated 5–4 on penalties bySeattle Sounders FC, following a 0–0 draw after extra time, although Cheyrou was able to net his spot kick in the shoot-out.[9][10][11][12]
On 9 December 2017, Cheyrou came on forMarky Delgado as an injury time substitute in the2017 MLS Cup Final – a rematch of the previous year's final – against Seattle, at BMO Field once again; Toronto won the match 2–0 to capture an unprecedented domestic treble of the MLS Cup, theSupporters' Shield, and theCanadian Championship.[13][14][15]
Following a 19-season career, Cheyrou officially announced his retirement from professional football on 21 December 2017, at the age of 36, weeks after winning the MLS Cup with Toronto FC. He stated that he will remain with the Toronto organization, working as a coach with theTFC Academy.[16][17] On 21 August 2018, Cheyrou left Toronto to return to his native France.[18]
On 7 February 2019, Cheyrou joined French amateur club La Salesienne as the assistant manager.[19]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lille | 1999–2000 | Division 2 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | Division 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2001–02 | Division 1 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 38 | 2 | |||
| 2003–04 | Ligue 1 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 1 | |||
| Total | 100 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 116 | 3 | |||
| Auxerre | 2004–05 | Ligue 1 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8[c] | 1 | – | 44 | 2 | |
| 2005–06 | Ligue 1 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 41 | 2 | |
| 2006–07 | Ligue 1 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7[c] | 1 | – | 44 | 4 | ||
| Total | 98 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 129 | 8 | ||
| Marseille | 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[e] | 1 | – | 47 | 3 | |
| 2008–09 | Ligue 1 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14[f] | 2 | – | 50 | 5 | ||
| 2009–10 | Ligue 1 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10[g] | 1 | – | 46 | 8 | ||
| 2010–11 | Ligue 1 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7[h] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 3 | |
| 2011–12 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9[h] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 49 | 5 | |
| 2012–13 | Ligue 1 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7[i] | 0 | – | 35 | 2 | ||
| 2013–14 | Ligue 1 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[h] | 0 | – | 33 | 2 | ||
| Total | 219 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 59 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 306 | 28 | ||
| Toronto FC | 2015 | MLS | 28 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1[j] | 0 | 31 | 2 | ||
| 2016 | MLS | 14 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 3[j] | 1 | 21 | 1 | |||
| 2017 | MLS | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1[j] | 0 | 16 | 2 | |||
| Total | 55 | 2 | 8 | 2 | – | – | 5 | 1 | 68 | 5 | ||||
| Career total | 472 | 31 | 34 | 6 | 27 | 0 | 79 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 619 | 44 | ||
Lille
Auxerre
Marseille
Toronto
France U19
Individual
