Franck Ribery
Personal information
Full name	Franck Bilal Ribery
Date of birth	April 1, 1983 (1983-04-01) (age 25)
Place of birth	Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Winger/Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Bayern Munich
Number	7
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001–2002 2002–2003 2003–2004 2004–2005 2005 2005–2007 2007–	US Boulogne Olympique Alès Stade Brestois 29 FC Metz Galatasaray Marseille Bayern Munich	24 0(5) 18 0(1) 35 0(3) 20 0(2) 14 0(0) 60 (11) 28 (11)
National team2
2006–	France	28 0(4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 17, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of June 9, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Franck Bilal Ribéry (born April 1, 1983 in Boulogne-sur-Mer) is a French football midfielder who currently plays for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich.

Club career

After spending the first four years of his career in his home country with four different clubs, Ribéry relocated to Turkey in January 2005, signing a three-and-a-half year contract with Galatasaray S.K., with whom he won the 2005 Fortis Turkey Cup by scoring one goal and assisting another in a 5-1 win in the final against league rivals Fenerbahçe SK.

On April 25, 2007, an appeal by Galatasaray against Ribery's move to Olympique de Marseille was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), who ruled in a statement that Ribery had terminated his contract with the Turkish club at the end of the 2004-05 season on just grounds, and that Galatasaray was therefore not entitled to any compensation. Ribéry had opted out of his deal in May 2005 in order to return to France after having gone over four months without wages. Galatasaray had sought €10 million in compensation from Marseille, and appealed to CAS after FIFA ruled in Ribéry's favor in July 2005.^[1]

Ribery has made 68 appearances in all competitions and scored fourteen goals as Marseille finished runner-up to Olympique Lyonnais in the 2006-07 Ligue 1 title race.

On June 7, 2007, Bayern Munich signed Ribéry to a four-year deal for a club-record €25 million.^[2] Ribéry was given the number 7 shirt, which was freed up due to the retirement of club legend Mehmet Scholl at the end of the previous season.^[3] He made his team debut one month later, scoring twice in an 18-0 friendly drubbing of Munich youth side FT Gern.

He made his competitive debut for Bayern on July 21, 2007 against Werder Bremen in the first round of the Premiere Ligapokal, scoring twice. He also netted an early goal in Bayern's 2-0 victory over defending champions VfB Stuttgart in the semifinals, but was unable to play in the final (won by Bayern) due to injury.

International career

Ribery earned his first cap with France in a 1-0 victory over Mexico on May 27, 2006; he started the match but was substituted by David Trezeguet in the 74th minute.^[4] He was part of France's roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he scored one goal. He played in the final where France lost to Italy, and his only shot on goal came in extra time.^[5]. He scored the only goal in France's 1-0 win over England on March 26, 2008. And since the Euro 2008 warm up matches, Ribery has been France's first choice taker of penalty kicks.

Personal life

When Ribéry was two years old, he and his family were involved in a serious automobile accident in Boulogne-sur-Mer, in which his face smashed through the windshield following a collision with a large truck, leaving two long scars down the right side of his face.^[6] He has an Algerian wife, Wahiba Belhami,^[7] and two daughters, Hizya and Shakinez; the latter was born on January 9, 2008 in Paris.^[8]

Honours

• Fortis Turkey Cup: 2004-05
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005
• Premiere Ligapokal: 2007
• German Cup: 2008
• Bundesliga: 2008

National Team

• World Cup runner-up: 2006

Personal Honours

• French Player of the Year: 2007
• German Footballer of the Year 2008

References