Cannes (France),
AC Milan (Italy), Arsenal FC (England), Juventus Turin (Italy)
Honours
1998 World Cup winner (France) 2001 Confederations Cup winner (France) 2000 European Championship winner (France) 1996 Serie A.. Champions (Milan AC) 1998 Premiership Champions (Arsenal) 2002 Premiership Champions (Arsenal) 2004 Premiership Champions (Arsenal) 1998 FA Cup winner (Arsenal) 2002 FA Cup winner (Arsenal) 1995 Gambardella Cup winner (Cannes) 2000 UEFA Cup Finals (Arsenal) 2001 FA Cup Finals (Arsenal)
Biography
Patrick Vieira (born June 23, 1976 in Dakar, Senegal) is a
French football midfielder, who currently plays for Juventus. He
captained Arsenal and won the World Cup with France in 1998.
Born in Senegal in the Cape Verdian community, Vieira's family
moved to Paris when he was aged 8; he did not return to Senegal
until 2003. Vieira first played for AS Cannes, where he made his
debut at the age of 17 and captained the team aged only 19. Soon
after that, in the summer of 1995, he was snapped up by Italian
giants AC Milan, though he mainly stayed in the reserves and
only made two appearances for the first team.
In September 1996, the incoming Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger
asked for him to be bought from AC Milan before he took up his
position. Vieira's height, stamina and physical strength meant
he settled in England quickly, while his composure and the
quality of his passing meant he became an integral part of
Wenger's stylish attacking side. While at Arsenal, he made his
debut for the French national side, in 1997 against the
Netherlands.
Forming a midfield partnership with compatriot Emmanuel Petit,
Vieira won the Premiership and FA Cup Double in 1998, his first
full season at the club. That summer, he was called up to
France's 1998 World Cup squad. Vieira came on as a substitute
for Youri Djorkaeff in the final against Brazil, and set up
Petit for France's third goal in a 3-0 win.
Vieira's time at Arsenal was beset by disciplinary problems - in
2000-01 he was sent off twice in two consecutive matches, though
after returning he didn't accrue a card for 28 matches. In all
he has been sent off eleven times in his career (nine for
Arsenal, once for Juventus and once for France).
Vieira would go on to win Euro 2000 with France, as well as a
second Double with Arsenal in 2002. After Tony Adams's
retirement in 2002, Vieira (already vice-captain) became club
captain, since which his temper and associated disciplinary
problems cooled somewhat. Though he missed Arsenal's 2003 FA Cup
final win with injury, Vieira lifted the trophy jointly with
captain for the day David Seaman.
In 2003-04 at Arsenal, he captained the side on a historic
unbeaten season in the Premier League, and in the 2005 FA Cup
Final he scored the winning kick in a penalty shoot-out after a
0-0 draw with Manchester United. In total, Vieira played 407
times for Arsenal and scored 33 times. For France, Vieira has
appeared 83 times, scoring four goals as of December 2005.
Vieira's starring performances for Arsenal earned the attention
of several major clubs abroad. In the 2003 and 2004 offseasons,
he was strongly linked with a move to Spanish superpower Real
Madrid. The Spanish side reportedly offered Arsenal £23 million
for him, which Arsenal had agreed to, but after much
deliberation Vieira decided to stay at the club where he made
his name. However, a year later Vieira was finally tempted away
from Highbury. Arsenal accepted a bid of €20m (£13.7m) from
Italian giants Juventus on July 14, 2005, and Vieira agreed a
five-year contract with the Serie A side the following day. In
his autobiography, he cited the main reason for his leaving
Arsenal as the board's 'neutral' position over the Juventus bid.
In an interesting twist of fate, Vieira will return to Highbury
on March 28, 2006 to play against Arsenal in the quarter-finals
of the UEFA Champions League, following the pairing of Juventus
and Arsenal in the tournament draw.
With Vieira, Juventus coach Fabio Capello hopes to improve a
midfield around consisting of Brazilian Emerson and Czech Pavel
Nedved. He started his new season with Juventus in a remarkable
fashion, scoring goals and helping Juventus to its record best
start with consecutive victories.
