A page turns for “Blaisou”: the former midfielder of the Blues Blaise Matuidi, pillar of the 2018 world champions, announced the end of his career on Friday, becoming at 35 the first winner of the World Cup in Russia to hang up his crampons .
The heroes of Moscow are only 25 left. “I have decided to put an end to my career as a professional footballer”, explains the former Paris SG player in a long video posted on YouTube, a few days following going to support the Blues at the Mondial-2022.
This hardworking, left-handed midfielder with an impressive volume of play to compensate for a sometimes frustrating technique, was able to impose himself everywhere for seventeen years among professionals, and even in the France team, where coach Didier Deschamps counted on his loyalty and his sense of sacrifice.
“It’s never been easy for me. People have always waited for me, I didn’t necessarily have the technical qualities beyond the average, and you had to whip, constantly, to show that, mentally, at the level of the effort, the sacrifice, I was above the others. I think I have reached the pinnacle on this”, explains Matuidi in this video, in front of photos of his career, the jerseys he has worn and some trophies he has won, including a copy of the World Cup.
“The apotheosis, world champion. That, I had not imagined, I dreamed of it once, when in 1998, they raised it.”
– 84 selections, 9 goals –
Author of nine goals in 84 selections, the native of Toulouse has started 72 times in the tricolor jersey, even wearing the captain’s armband six times between 2012 and 2020.
From his debut in Troyes, in 2004, to his last title in 2020 with Juventus Turin, through his explosion at the highest level in Saint-Étienne, Matuidi has made all his clubs happy, winning five French championships with Paris Saint-Germain, where he played from 2011 to 2017.
“The Trojan family is proud of you Blaise. What a journey, what a huge career,” reacted Estac, his first professional club, on Twitter. “Bravo Blaise Matuidi for everything you have accomplished, from the Cauldron lawn to the roof of the world!”, Also wrote ASSE on the social network.
Elected best French player by France Football magazine in 2015 ahead of Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba, “Blaisou” ended his career in Blue with a draw once morest Turkey (1-1), at the Stade de France. He then chose to join Inter Miami for a final challenge.
But the Florida club dropped him from its roster for the 2022 MLS season, the North American championship, leaving Matuidi without a professional game since November 2021.
– “Coming to the end” –
“I had the chance to play in the biggest European clubs, to wear the jersey of the national team, to make my family vibrate, to live from my passion and these are images that will remain with me”, affirmed the ex-French international.
He is the first 2018 world champion to announce his end of career: other veterans like Steven Nzonzi or Adil Rami are still evolving among professionals, while Benjamin Mendy, accused of seven rapes in England and awaiting his judgment, is haven’t played a single game since August 2021.
“My head, my heart, tell me to say stop and think regarding my family, my wife, my children, regarding this life that I have built. I think I have reached the end of what I am capable of bringing” , explains the former Parisian, known for his outstretched arms and tilted body celebration.
Blaise Matuidi will remain a locker room leader, smiling and lodger. His temperament will have given ideas to French rap. The rapper MHD notably paid tribute to him with a verse to his glory: “Matuidi charo, Matuidi charo”, revealing his attitude on the ground.
In recent months, Matuidi had developed its activities outside of football, notably by creating an investment fund dedicated to supporting tech start-ups.
