Thirty-somethings probably remember the little number 22 with fiery legs, shorts and sleeves that were too wide but the shoulders were the right size, who, dropped during the match by Raymond Domenech in preparation for the 2006 World Cup, brought the team from France a breath of fresh air and an aggressiveness that foreshadowed the greatest exploits. Sixteen years after a bitter-tasting World Cup final, Franck Ribéry, 39, decided to listen to his knees, which were telling him they couldn’t take it anymore. This Friday, he announced on social networks his wish to hang up his crampons. “The ball stops but not my feelings for him”, he posted on Twitter where he also shared a video. The end of a career as long as your arm, strewn with pitfalls and trophies, from the amateur world to the Champions League.
The ball stops. The feelings inside me do not. ✨
Der Ball ruht. Die Gefühle in mir nicht. ✨
The ball stops but not my feelings for him. ✨
It pallon if closed. Le emozioni dentro di me, no. ✨Thanks to everyone for this great adventure. ??#FR7 #Elhamdulillah pic.twitter.com/Ku4i1MeEbE
— Franck Ribery (@FranckRibery) October 21, 2022
If France remembers Franck Ribéry from Marseille, the 1m70 will-o’-the-wisp hatched in Boulogne-sur-Mer, a city dear to worshipers of Diego Armando Maradona. It was in this city of Pas-de-Calais, after leaving the LOSC training center earlier than expected – that he played his first matches in the National Championship at the age of 18. While he shines in the amateur world, under the colors of Boulogne, then with Alès and Brest (23 assists, promotion to Ligue 2), it is Jean Fernandez’s FC Metz who are ahead of Nantes and Ajax and offer him the opportunity to make the leap to Ligue 1 in 2004. He is 21 years old and everything is going very fast for him.
Franck Ribéry in the colors of the Dragons of Boulogne-sur-Mer (First from the left, bottom).
Thundering debut in Ligue 1 with Metz and hasty departure in Turkey
Aligned in the position of right midfielder, Franck Ribéry stands out for his debut and from August, he won the player of the month trophy. Freshly appointed head of the French hopefuls, René Girard summons him without hesitation. And after only six months in Moselle (best passer in Ligue 1 with 8 offerings), here he is at the heart of a transfer to 5 million euros. At the end of January 2005, he took the direction of Turkey, where Galatasaray welcomed him like a prince. But twist! After five months (17 matches, 1 goal, 5 assists), awaiting unpaid wages, the player decides to leave. OM, where Jean Fernandez has settled down, opens the door to him.
Franck Ribéry with OM against Pedro Miguel Pauleta’s PSG.
OM opens the doors of the France team to him
Already back in France, to the delight of OM supporters, the number 7 flocked on the back, Franck Ribéry plays as a left winger. Under the Marseille colors, he carried out a first high-flying exercise. Best hope of the championship, three times “player of the month”, author of the “goal of the year” against Nantes, the 23-year-old striker played 53 matches, scored 12 goals and delivered 8 assists. Enough to, already, give him desires elsewhere, and convince Raymond Domenech to call him for the three preparation matches of the Blues for the 2006 World Cup.
Franck Ribéry is about to take his first steps in the France team, against Mexico.
Having become the new mascot of the France team, appreciated by Zinedine Zidane, adored by the supporters who chant his name, he is propelled to the title of a revamped team to start the German World Cup against Switzerland. Holder, he will be until the final (with the exception of the match against South Korea), a sign that he is not just a fad but a young crack who has become a prisoner in no time. His performance in the round of 16 is remembered. As a loyal lieutenant, he disgusts Iker Casillas and prevents Spain from sending Zidane into retirement.
False start in Lyon and record transfer to Bayern
In the summer of 2006, he changed status. On the strength of a fifth consecutive league title, Olympique Lyonnais is making eyes at him. And if the player makes OL his priority, the Marseille leaders remind him of his contractual obligations. The fire extinguished, Franck Ribéry is playing a second season in the Marseille city, where hampered by injuries, he shines a little less but remains decisive (6 goals, 12 assists in 36 matches). After finishing 5th then 2nd in the championship and having played (and lost) two Coupe de France finals with OM, the 24-year-old was granted an exit voucher by Pape Diouf.
OM will not reinforce a direct competitor. He will not go to Lyon, despite 22 million euros placed on the table by Jean-Michel Aulas. It is from Germany that he takes the direction. The transfer is record: 30 million euros. Unheard of for the club with finances settled like music paper. The player arrives in a locker room struck by a season ended in 4th place, synonymous with the Europa League. Despite its star workforce, made up of Kahn, van Bommel, Lahm and Schweinsteiger, the adaptation is lightning fast. Ribéry learns the German in record time, his pranks annoy his teammates as much as they amuse them and on the pitch, the Frenchman transforms Bayern.
From “Ti’Franck” to “Kaiser Franck”
The number 7 bequeathed by Mehmet Scholl is not too heavy to bear for Franck Ribéry, who aligned on the left side dusts off a Bundesliga long considered rough and boring. His technique, his thrusts and his speed give him an unprecedented popularity rating, even on the move. A dream start, made possible by a coach: Ottmar Hitzfeld. A surrogate father. “The starting point is to find out about the player’s childhood. I know where Franck comes from, everything he’s been through. He needs to feel cared for, but also to have rules.” declared the German technician at the time, to the newspaper The Team.
Franck Ribéry celebrates alongside Mario Gomez on the lawn of the Vélodrome.
For his first season, he achieved the double Cup-Championship and was elected player of the year in the Bundesliga. The sequel is a twelve-year love story and an impressive track record: nine times German champion (a record), 6 times winner of the German Cup, 4 times winner of the German Super Cup, a the League, but also and above all, the Champions League in 2013, which earned him 3rd place on the Ballon d’Or podium, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. Franck Ribéry at Bayern is 425 matches, 124 goals and 182 assists under the orders of Ottmar Hitzfeld, Jürgen Klinsmann, Jupp Heynckes, Louis van Gaal, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Niko Kovac.
Italy as last stand
Il capitano Ribéry with Fiorentina.
At the end of his adventure in Bavaria, China, Qatar and Saudi Arabia offer him a golden early retirement. Franck Ribéry is not so greedy. It is in Italy that history continues to be written. Under the colors of Fiorentina, with Vincenzo Montella then Giuseppe Iachini, he played 51 matches (5 goals, 10 assists) and even sported the captain’s armband. Regretting the lack of respect from the leaders of the Tuscan club, who refused to extend it, the striker, then 38 years old, then bounced back to the promoted Salernitana, with whom he snatched the maintenance. Coming into play against José Mourinho’s Roma on the first day of this season, Franck Ribéry did not know it but he was playing his last minutes as a professional footballer.
“Ferraribéry”, “Scarface”, “Kaiser Franck”, Franck Ribéry will have marked his era. That of the succession of Zidane in the France team. This time when it was difficult to talk about oneself when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo monopolized all the attention. That of the hegemony of Bayern Munich and a certain revival of interest in the Bundesliga. Far from France, Franck Ribéry will, like Karim Benzema, be talked about on and off the pitch. More than others, he will have received blows, because he comes from a disadvantaged background where we talk and where we sometimes think afterwards. Because different from what we are used to seeing. Because Bilal Yusuf Mohammed was more talented than the others.
