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Mathieu Flamini Biography
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Mathieu Flamini (born March 7, 1984 in Marseille) is a French footballer currently playing for Arsenal as a midfielder.
French Football Career
Flamini was a youth team player for his local professional club Olympique de Marseille. He made his debut for the senior team on 20 December 2003 in the 1-0 victory over Toulouse FC. He impressed for the team as a hardworking midfield player playing 14 times for the club. However it was his performances in Marseille’s UEFA cup campaign that brought him to the attention of the general football world, including the semi-final victory over Newcastle United. He played in the final in Gothenburg which Valencia won 2-0. Due to his age Marseille had been unable to offer him a long term professional contract.
Transfer to Arsenal
On July 23, 2004 Flamini signed a professional contract for Arsenal, rejecting Marseille's long-term senior contract offer to which he had already verbally agreed to. Soon after the incident, Marseille manager José Anigo stated, "This is a beautiful treason. He used me."
On January 13, 2005 the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Flamini's transfer to Arsenal, which had been sanctioned by FIFA, was illegal. After this decision Arsenal agreed to pay Marseille further compensation for Flamini. It should be noted that the Court has no jurisdiction over such dealings, and that the deal involving Flamini was deemed legal by FIFA.
Arsenal career
Flamini made his Arsenal début in the 4-1 win at Everton on 15 August 2004. He has been used as a utility player starting 9 games but being used as a substitute in 12. The following season saw him filling in for a number of injured players, but unable to command a first team place in his favoured location.
While he is naturally a defensive midfielder, he has been used as a right winger. Due to injuries in Arsenal's back line, he has also operated in the left back position, after injuries to Ashley Cole, Gaël Clichy, Pascal Cygan, Lauren, Kerrea Gilbert and Sebastian Larsson. However, despite being right-footed, Flamini performed respectably during the remainder of Arsenal's Premiership and Champions League campaign. When Ashley Cole became fit again, though, he returned to the starting lineup. In May 2006 he came on as a 76th minute substitute in the Champions League Final which Arsenal lost to Barcelona in Paris. In this season, Mathieu does have a knack of scoring important goals, he scored the winner against Dinamo Zagreb in the qualifying stages of the Champions League. He also scored important goals against Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premiership. Flamini has also scored a goal against Blackburn Rovers.
International career
Flamini accepted his first call up to France by coach Raymond Domenech for a friendly against Argentina at the Stade de France on February 7, 2007 after Jeremy Toulalan was ruled out due to injury.
* source: wikipedia.org
GNU Free Documentation License
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