Bixente Lizarazu

Lizarazu was born in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and grew up in Hendaye; both cities being located in the French Basque Country. He is of Basque descent. ==Club career==

Bordeaux An enthusiast in several sports from a young age, Lizarazu began his professional career with Bordeaux, joining the club's youth setup as a 15-year-old in 1984 and initially playing as a winger. to qualify for the 1995–96 UEFA Cup. They would go all the way to the final under coach Rohr, beating Real Betis, A.C. Milan and Slavia Prague before losing to Bayern Munich 5–1 on aggregate. He appeared 299 times for his formative club, scoring 28 goals. Athletic Bilbao Lizarazu spent just one season with the La Liga club after becoming the first Frenchman to play for Athletic, which has a policy of selecting only players of Basque birth or heritage. Suffering from a persistent groin injury, and the Intercontinental Cup. He made 268 appearances in all competitions for Bayern between 1997 and 2006, scoring eight goals. 183 of these games were in the German top-flight. ==International career==

Lizarazu was capped 97 times for France (for the first time on 14 November 1992 against Finland), scoring two goals, and helped them win the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000, starting in the final of both tournaments. He was also part of squad for France in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, though France were eliminated from group stage in the tournament without scoring a single goal where he was involved all 3 matches in the group stage. He retired from international football after France were surprisingly eliminated by eventual winners Greece at Euro 2004. ==Style of play==

Regarded by pundits as one of the best left-backs of his generation, Lizarazu was an attacking full-back or wing-back, who was known for his passing, technique, pace, stamina, and his ability to get up the flank and provide accurate crosses from the touch-line. In addition to his offensive prowess, he was also known for his defensive abilities, despite his diminutive stature, which, along with his speed, allowed him to track back. ==Personal life==

After retirement, Lizarazu got involved in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He competed in a jiu-jitsu competition in Europe in 2009, where he became European champion in the Blue Belt Senior 1 Light Division. He is also a keen surfer In 2013, Lizarazu was described as a "tramp" by his successor as France's left-back, Patrice Evra, after he and other pundits criticised Evra for giving an impromptu team talk during half-time of a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Belarus. Lizarazu has two children. He is in a relationship with actress Claire Keim with whom he has a daughter. Lizarazu is a native speaker of Basque and French. In addition, he also speaks Spanish, German and English. ==Career statistics==

Club International :''Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lizarazu goal.'' ==Honours==

Bordeaux • Division 2: 1991–92 • UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1995 • UEFA Cup runner-up: 1995–96 Bayern Munich • Bundesliga: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 • DFB-Pokal: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 • DFB-Ligapokal: 1997 • UEFA Champions League: 2000–01; runner-up: 1998–99 • Intercontinental Cup: 2001 France • UEFA Team of the Year: 2001 • FIFA XI: 2002 • Équipe type spéciale 20 ans des trophées UNFP: 2011 Orders • Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998 • Officer of the Legion of Honour: 2025 ==References==