Lilian Thuram

Lilian Thuram (born Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien, January 1, 1972, in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, FWI) is a retired French professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team. He has played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A. With France, Thuram won the 1998 World Cup and the Euro 2000. Thuram holds the record for most appearances at the European Championship, with 16. He was expected to join Paris Saint-Germain on the June 27, 2008, having agreed a year contract. However, at the press conference he instead announced the discovery of a cardiac malformation, similar to the one that cost his brother's life. A month later Thuram announced his full retirement from football due to the cardiac condition.



In Juventus, along with former Parma teammate Buffon, they won the Scudetto twice with Juventus (it was originally four times, but the club was stripped of the 2004/05 and 2005/06 titles due to the Calciopoli)

During 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, Thuram, along with former Parma teammates, Gianlugi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro formed one of the most expensive, but also most feared defences in world football.

Honours

* AS Monaco (1991–1996)
o Coupe de France: 1990/91
* Parma (1996–2001)
o UEFA Cup: 1998/99
o Coppa Italia: 1998/99
o Italian Super Cup: 1999
* Juventus (2001–2006)
o Serie A: 2001/02 2002/03 (2004/05 & 2005/06 titles stripped)
o Italian Super Cup: 2002, 2003
* FC Barcelona (2006–2008)
o Spanish Super Cup: 2006
* French national team (1994-2008 )
o FIFA World Cup: winner 1998, runner-up 2006
o European Championship: winner 2000, semi-finalist 1996

Thuram was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

In 2006, he was named a member of the FIFPro World XI team.

Following the 1998 World Cup, he was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 1998