麻豆APP

Lilian Thuram. Photo by Lefalher.

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Lilian Thuram

Lilian Thuram whose full name is Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien is a former professional footballer and a French author who was born on 1^st January 1972.

Thuram was a member of France’s High Council for Integration and takes a public position on issues related to equality, immigration, and racism.

To provide education on racism, Thuram established the Lilian Thuram Foundation in 2008.

The top 10 interesting facts about Lilian Thuram include the following.

1. Lilian Thuram Was Brought Up by A Single Parent

Pointe-脿-Pitre. Photo by LPLT.

Thuram was born in Pointe-脿-Pitre in the beautiful French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe in 1972.

He moved to 麻豆APP in 1981 when he was just nine years of age to live with his mother.

Apart from being the original home of Thuram, Guadeloupe is also the country of origin of Thierry Henry who is another famous French footballer of international repute.

Thuram鈥檚 single mother, Mariana, migrated to France mainly due to economic reasons.  His mother hoped that by migrating to France, it would give him a chance to make something of himself.

Thuram鈥檚 father left him and his mother when he was only an infant and has since then met him just once. 

He thinks of him as being insignificant in his life and largely holds him in utter ridicule. 

2. Thuram Started Playing Football in The Streets of Fontainebleau

Thuram found himself playing football on the streets of Fontainebleau with other children of migrants from all over the world.

 Fontainebleau was a difficult suburb in the neglected south-east of 麻豆APP in France. 

Thuram was happy to be living in that part of 麻豆APP even though his surroundings were not the nicest that the capital city had to offer at the time.

3. Thuram Won the Coupe de France With Monaco Same Year His Professional Career Started

In 1991 Thuram started his professional career with Monaco and only made one appearance with the team in that season.

However, he was officially promoted to the first team the following season and appeared 19 times with the team.

He was inserted into the starting XI by the end of 1992 and went on to make 155 league appearances for the Ligue 1 side.  In summer of 1996, Thuram transferred to Parma.

His most notable achievement with Monaco is that together with the team he won the Coupe de France in 1991.

4. Thuram Helped Parma Reach the Coppa Italia Final

Gianluigi Buffon. Photo by Puma.

Thuram made a high-profile transfer from Monaco to Parma which was a Serie A club in Italy.  During the first season he scored only one goal in 40 appearances with the club. 

Nevertheless, Parma finished second in the 1996-1997 Serial A season.

During his stay at Parma, he made a name for himself and earned caps for France in the over 200 appearances with the club

Parma reached the Coppa Italia final, and also finished the Serie A season in fourth place in the 2000-01 season which was a very impressive performance.

While at Parma Thuram won both the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia during the 1998鈥�99 season.

That achievement was immediately followed by the 1999 Supercoppa Italiana which Thuram won together with team mates Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro.

5. The Transfer Price to Juventus Made Thuram the Most Expensive Defender at The Time

Rio Ferdinand. Photo by Web Summit.

From Parma, Thuram鈥檚 next club was Juventus where he transferred together with team mate Gianluigi Buffon.

His transfer price was set at 拢25 million or 80 billion Italian lire which made Thuram the most expensive defender in history at the time.

The most expensive defender before the Thuram鈥檚 transfer was when Leeds paid 拢18 million to West Ham for the defender Rio Ferdinand.

In that case, the transfer price paid by Juventus for Thuram surpassed the amount paid for Rio Ferdinand.

During his five-year tenure with Juventus, Thuram formed defensive partnerships with other players such as Gianluca Pessotto, Igor Tudor, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini among others

6. Thuram Was Part of The Most Expensive and Feared Defenses in Europe

Fabio Capello. Photo by 袛屑懈褌褉懈泄 小邪写芯胁薪懈泻芯胁.

In the first season with Juventus, Thuram and the team won the 2001-02 Serie A title and also reached the final of the 2001鈥�02 Coppa Italia under coach Marcello Lippi.

The club also won the 2002 Supercoppa Italiana, and defended their Serie A title, also reaching the UEFA Champions League final in the following season.

During his time in Juventus, the club had one of the most expensive and feared defenses in Europe and by extension Italy under coach Fabio Capello.

The defense was made up of Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro in the center of defense and Gianluigi Buffon in goal.

The defense was also strengthened by Jonathan Zebina at right back and Gianluca Zambrotta at left back.

7. Thuram Transferred to Barcelona At A Drastically Reduced Fee

Thuram signed with Barcelona for 鈧�5 million after Juventus were relegated to Serie B due to the calciopoli scandal on 24^th July 2006.

The transfer fee paid for Thuram to move from Juventus to Barcelona was far much less than what was paid by Juventus to move him from Parma by about 8 times.

The calciopoli scandal was a scandal which affected Italy鈥檚 professional football league, Serie A and to some extend Serie B. 

The scandal was uncovered when relations between team managers and referee organizations were unearthed following several telephone interceptions.

Juventus, where Thuram was a player, was implicated and was stripped the 2004-05 title and relegated to Serie B.

8. Thuram Had an Illustrious International Career

Thuram鈥檚 international footballing career was simply outstanding.  Thuram was in the French team which triumphed in the UEFA Euro 2000. 

Due to that win, as from 2001-2002, that French side was ranked as number one.

Thuram was an integral part of the French team which played in the 2002 World Cup, 2006 World Cup, Euro 1996, Euro 2004 and Euro 2008 competitions.

Thuram was also in the team that won the 1998 World Cup. Thuram came from retirement to play for France in the 2006 World Cup where the team reached finals.

With 142 appearances, Thuram finished his career with the national team as France鈥檚 most capped player.

9. Thuram Was Diagnosed with A Heart Defect In 2008

Thuram was reported as having signed a one-year contract with 麻豆APP Saint-Germain with an option of another year in 2008.

However, the deal was cancelled shortly after he was diagnosed with a heart defect.  A similar heart defect had caused the death of his brother.

Consequently, he announced his final retirement from professional football due to the heart defect on 2^nd August 2008.

10. Thuram Has All Along Been Outspoken Against Racism and Injustice

Jean- Marie Le Pen. Photo by Novosti yu.

Ahead of the 1998 World Cup final, French right-wing politician Jean-Marie Le Pen made controversial comments about the French National team being unrecognizable for having too many black players.

When Le Pen鈥檚 comments made headlines, Thuram was one of the many who spoke against him in the aftermath.

Thuram took a position against Nicolas Sarkozy, the then Minister of Interior in 2005 when he called young people 鈥渟cum鈥�.

Sarkozy had made remarks against young people living in areas of low-income housing surrounding French cities.

Thuram yet again sparked controversy when he invited 80 people to watch a football match between France and Italy.

The people had been expelled by French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy from a flat where they had lived illegally.

Thuram supports same-sex marriage in the name of equal rights.

He took part in a march through 麻豆APP by supporters of the Ayrault government’s plan to legalize same-sex marriage in France in 2013.