Thuram: The End of an Era?

February 15th, 2007 | By: Laurie | 6 Comments »

I’ll ‘fess up here. Lilian Thuram is my favorite current Bleu. I’m madly in love with his instincts on the field, where he and William Gallas created a virtually impenetrable center defense and were instrumental in getting France to the World Cup final. And I love his social activism off the field. (More on that in a later post.)

But here’s a sad fact of life. Lilian is 35. How many thirty-five-year-old players (aside from keepers) do we know? In the aftermath of last week’s France-Argentina game, where two brand new central defenders did a better-than-fair job of holding their own, there have been a lot of articles with Lilian looking regretfully toward the time when he’ll no longer be playing. “I have to consider that I am 35 years of age and that the Euros are very, very far away,” Thuram told Canal Plus. (Reprinted in Eurosport.) “Also, at this moment, I am not playing much in Barcelona. If that continues, I will not be in fit shape by the Euros.”

Lilian is back in training this week after being out since before the first of the year with a calf injury. That’s good news. But he hasn’t been able to break into the starting lineup for Barcelona since leaving Juventus last year after Juve’s match-fixing relegation to Serie B. Thuram is concerned that without regular playing time, he’ll lose his edge. And if that happens?

“When you are no longer [playing] at the highest level, it is necessary to let your place go. It is not complicated. One should not cling.”

Spoken with class by a player who’s nothing but class.

But I’m still hoping he’ll make it to Euro ‘08.



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Comments
Username By Daniel | February 15th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
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I concur that Thuram is a great ambassador of the game and in his prime one of the best pure defenders in the world. He has aged gracefully without losing much pace and skill. Who knows anything can happen though.

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Username By whb | February 15th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
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And he’s got thoughtful, yet hip black framed glasses. How can’t you love Thuram?

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Username By Laurie | February 15th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
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I LOVE those glasses, whb. If I could look that “thoughtful, yet hip,” I would buy some for myself.

Can you keep a secret? I find Thuram So. Damn. Sexy. (Shhh. Don’t tell my husband.);-)

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Username By Laurie | February 15th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
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Daniel: “Great ambassador of the game.” Yes, that’s it exactly.

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Username By Bib | February 15th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
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Thuram is the absolute best France has produced. Without him France may have lost the WC final in the first half. He made some key defensive plays which kept France in the game. Minus Thuram and Zidane, even with the likes of Henry and Ribery France are definitely going to lose their edge.

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Username By sandrahn | February 16th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
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I absolutely adore Thuram, I wish I could freeze him in time and make him last forever. There simply is no better footballer in terms of character and class — and his skills and talent are world class. I can’t praise him enuf.

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