Winner of the Champions League with OM in 1993 at just 21 years old, Fabien Barthez suddenly revealed himself at TFC the previous season. The native of Lavelanet, in Ariège, was trained in Toulouse after being spotted by Elie Baup. He had then escaped the youth selections but took advantage of the injury of the two Violets goalkeepers to debut in French D1 in September 1991.
Michel Ettorre, emblematic goalkeeper of FC Metz in the 80s and 90s, saw Barthez reveal himself at the time. He tells the podcast
The Voice of the Guardians: “he slipped through the cracks in the kid’s selections, he exploded in Toulouse. It was Elie Baup who started with him, it was the big surprise and especially in Marseille with (Pascal)
Olmeta and Huard (Gaëtan Huard, who left one before, editor’s note). He transformed the position with his trajectory reading and his aggressiveness. Everything he did, he did it twice as fast as the others.”
Barthez modern goalkeeper
Before continuing on the talent of the man who became “The Divine Bald”: “Barthez was also extraordinary, he had this side of speed and anticipation that the others did not have. Could Barthez be selectable at the level of English football for example? While they only have monsters left there, there is no longer an Englishman playing, apart from one. But when we saw him, he was phenomenal”. The Ariégeois measured 1.80 m when he was a footballer.
Recruited by Bernard Tapie, the young Fabien Barthez (still hairy) took the place of Pascal Olmeta, star goalkeeper of Marseillais, to lift the big-eared cup at the end of his first season! He waited until the following year, in May 94, to make his first selection for the French team, against Australia (1-0) during the Kirin Cup. Player at AS Monaco (1995-2000), he would then be number 3 (behind Bernard Lama and Bruno Martini) at Euro 96 then promoted to starting position by Aimé Jacquet just before the 98 World Cup won by Zinédine Zidane’s Blues.
