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 Karembeu in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Christian Lali Kake Karembeu[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1970-12-03)3 December 1970 (age 54)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Lifou, New Caledonia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3][4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defensive midfielder[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Olympiacos (sports director) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gaïtcha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1990 | Nantes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1995 | Nantes | 130 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | Sampdoria | 62 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2000 | Real Madrid | 51 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Middlesbrough | 33 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Olympiacos | 68 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Servette | 23 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Bastia | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 395 | (18) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–2002 | France | 53 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christian Lali Kake Karembeu (born 3 December 1970) is a French former professionalfootballer who played as adefensive midfielder. He is currently thesporting director forOlympiacos.
Karembeu representedNantes,Sampdoria,Real Madrid,Middlesbrough, Olympiacos,Servette, andBastia. He found much success on the national stage as well representingFrance, having been born in the overseas territoryNew Caledonia, and was a vital part of the squad that won the1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil and featured in one match in France's victoriousUEFA Euro 2000 campaign.[6]
Karembeu was born inLifou, New Caledonia, aFrench overseas territory in thePacific Islands.[7] He played youth football for Nouméa-basedGaïtcha FCN.[8][9] At the age of 17, he moved tometropolitan France on a scholarship to study and play football.[10] He was recruited as a youth player byFC Nantes and signed a professional contract with the club in 1990.[9]
During his career Karembeu played forNantes (1990–95),Sampdoria (1995–97),Real Madrid (1997–2000),Middlesbrough (2000–01),Olympiacos (2001–04),Servette (2004–05),Bastia (2005–06). With Real Madrid, he won theChampions League in 1998 and 2000, starting in the former but remaining on the bench for the latter. He also played for theReal Madrid Veterans against Barcelona in Qatar, on 13 November 2012. He last playedmidfield forBastia in the FrenchLigue 1. He announced his retirement on 13 October 2006, although he added that he would "be having a kickabout from time to time". He also took part in a friendly competition forKettering Town FC withGianfranco Zola,Les Ferdinand andGus Poyet.
Born in the French territory ofNew Caledonia, he was able to representFrance on the international stage. He compiled 53caps in his career, earning his first one on 14 November 1992 againstFinland in a 2–1 victory during1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying.[11] He scored his only goal for France during1996 UEFA Euro qualifying on 11 October 1995 during the 3–1 win againstRomania.[12]
Karembeu was a member of the French team that won the1998 World Cup. He played in 4 matches in the tournament, including starts in the quarter-final, semi-final, and final, totalling 242 minutes.[6]
He was also part of the victorious French team atEuro 2000.[6]
Described as a "complete midfielder" by Paul Sarahs ofFourFourTwo, Karembeu was a physically imposing, energetic, and technically giftedtwo-way midfielder, who was known for his range of passing,dribbling skills, stamina, and hard-tackling playing style;[13][14][15] he usually played in a holding role in midfield, although he was also capable of playing in various other positions, including in a box-to-box role, as aright–sided midfielder, or even as aright-back.[15][16] Regarding his playing style and role in France's victory in the 1998 World Cup final, Michael Cox ofESPN FC described him as "a peculiar hybrid of awing-back and a box-to-box midfielder," who "shuttled up and down on the right of a very defensive three-man midfield."[17]
On 9 December 2005, Karembeu represented theOceania Football Confederation at the draw for the2006 World Cup which took place inLeipzig, Germany.
In May 2006 Karembeu became a scout for EnglishPremiership sidePortsmouth Football Club. In 2007, he was appointed as non-executive director ofBirmingham International Holdings.[18] He left after 2010 annual general meeting.[19] However, in August 2009, Karembeu decided to join Arsenal's ever expanding scouting network.[20]
In June 2013, Karembeu was handed an administrative role atGreek clubOlympiacos along with formerSouth African footballerPierre Issa.[21]
Karembeu is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created byPeace and Sport, aMonaco-based international organization.[22]
Deeply involved in Peace and Sport's activities, Karembeu visitedHaiti in August 2010 with Founder and President of Peace and Sport, Joel Bouzou, to strengthen the role of sport in the country's reconstruction efforts and attract the attention of the international community to urgent needs that prevail there. He went to meet sports instructors and young beneficiaries of the emergency program that the Haitian Olympic Committee has set up in survivor camps.[23]
The great-grandfather of Karembeu, who came fromNew Caledonia, was one of a hundredKanaks taken to Paris in 1931 for theParis Colonial Exposition and exhibited there as "cannibals". Later the "cannibals" were swapped with Germany for somecrocodiles.[24] Karembeu refuses to sing France's national anthem, "La Marseillaise", due to the colonial past of the country.[25]
Karembeu was married toSlovak modelAdriana Sklenařiková, whom he met on an aeroplane.[26] The couple split in March 2011 and divorced in December 2012.[27] Their marriage was childless. In May 2017, Karembeu marriedJackie Chamoun, a Lebanese skier, inGreece, followed by a wedding ceremony inLebanon.[28] The couple announced the birth of their daughter on 27 September 2017.[29]
Following the 1998 World Cup, he was made aKnight of the Legion of Honour in 1998.[30]
Karembeu is the host of French TV seriesDes Îles et des Hommes (Of Islands and Men), aired onPlanète in 2010 and 2011, a travel programme visiting among six of the most beautiful islands of the world. He also became part of the ITV broadcast team for Euro 2016.
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Nantes | 1990–91 | Division 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1991–92 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 0 | ||||
| 1992–93 | 35 | 2 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 38 | 3 | ||||
| 1993–94 | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 2[a] | 0 | 35 | 0 | |||
| 1994–95 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7[a] | 0 | 44 | 3 | ||
| Total | 130 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 150 | 6 | ||
| Sampdoria | 1995–96 | Serie A | 32 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 5 | ||
| 1996–97 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 62 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 6 | ||
| Real Madrid | 1997–98 | La Liga | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 5[b] | 3 | 23 | 3 | |
| 1998–99 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 6[c] | 0 | 31 | 0 | |||
| 1999–2000 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 8[d] | 1 | 28 | 1 | |||
| Total | 51 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 4 | 82 | 4 | ||
| Middlesbrough | 2000–01 | Premier League | 33 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 36 | 4 | |
| Olympiacos | 2001–02 | Alpha Ethniki | 24 | 1 | 7 | 1 | – | 6[b] | 0 | 37 | 2 | |
| 2002–03 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 6[b] | 0 | 29 | 2 | |||
| 2003–04 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 6[b] | 0 | 33 | 0 | |||
| Total | 68 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 99 | 4 | ||
| Servette | 2004–05 | Swiss Super League | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | ||
| Bastia | 2005–06 | Ligue 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 395 | 18 | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 46 | 4 | 486 | 22 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 1992 | 1 | 0 |
| 1993 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 13 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 53 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 October 1995 | Stadionul Steaua,Bucharest, Romania | 10 |  Romania | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1996 UEFA Euro qualification | [12] |
Nantes[32]
Olympiacos[32]
Individual
Orders
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