Christian Karembeu

This article is about the footballer. For his former wife, see Adriana Karembeu.

Christian Karembeu

Karembeu in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Christian Lali Kake Karembeu [1]
Date of birth	(1970-12-03) 3 December 1970 (age 53) [2]
Place of birth	Lifou, New Caledonia
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) [3] [4]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder [5]
Team information
Current team	Olympiacos (sports director)
Youth career
	Gaïtcha
1988–1990	Nantes
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1995	Nantes	130	(5)
1995–1997	Sampdoria	62	(6)
1997–2000	Real Madrid	51	(1)
2000–2001	Middlesbrough	33	(4)
2001–2004	Olympiacos	68	(3)
2004–2005	Servette	23	(2)
2005–2006	Bastia	7	(0)
Total		395	(18)
International career
1992–2002	France	53	(1)
Medal record Men's football Representing   France FIFA World Cup Winner 1998 France UEFA European Championship Winner 2000 Belgium & Netherlands FIFA Confederations Cup Winner 2001 South Korea & Japan
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christian Lali Kake Karembeu (born 3 December 1970) is a New Caledonian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the sporting director for Olympiacos.

Karembeu represented Nantes, Sampdoria, Real Madrid, Middlesbrough, Olympiacos, Servette, and Bastia. He found much success on the national stage as well representing France, having been born in the overseas territory New Caledonia, and was a vital part of the squad that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil and featured in one match in France's victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign. ^[6]

Early life

Karembeu was born in Lifou, New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the Pacific Islands. ^[7] He played youth football for Nouméa-based Gaïtcha FCN. ^{[8] [9]} At the age of 17, he moved to France on a scholarship to study and play football. ^[10] He was recruited as a youth player by FC Nantes and signed a professional contract with the club in 1990. ^[9]

Club career

During his career Karembeu played for Nantes (1990–95), Sampdoria (1995–97), Real Madrid (1997–2000), Middlesbrough (2000–01), Olympiacos (2001–04), Servette Genève (2004–05), Bastia (2005–06). With Real Madrid, he won the Champions League in 1998 and 2000, starting in the former but remaining on the bench for the latter. He also played for the Real Madrid Veterans against Barcelona in Qatar, on 13 November 2012. He last played midfield for Bastia in the French Ligue 1. He announced his retirement on 13 October 2006, although he added that he would "be having a kickabout from time to time". He also took part in a friendly competition for Kettering Town FC with Gianfranco Zola, Les Ferdinand and Gus Poyet.

International career

Born in the French territory of New Caledonia, he was able to represent France on the international stage. He compiled 53 caps in his career, earning his first one on 14 November 1992 against Finland in a 2–1 victory.

Karembeu was a member of the French team that won the 1998 World Cup. He played in 4 matches in the tournament, including starts in the quarter-final, semi-final, and final, totalling 242 minutes. ^[6]

He was also part of the victorious French team at Euro 2000. ^[6]

Style of play

Described as a "complete midfielder" by Paul Sarahs of FourFourTwo, Karembeu was a physically imposing, energetic, and technically gifted two-way midfielder, who was known for his range of passing, dribbling skills, stamina, and hard-tackling playing style; ^{[11] [12] [13]} he usually played in a holding role in midfield, although he was also capable of playing in various other positions, including in a box-to-box role, as a right–sided midfielder, or even as a right-back. ^{[13] [14]} Regarding his playing style and role in France's victory in the 1998 World Cup final, Michael Cox of ESPN FC described him as "a peculiar hybrid of a wing-back and a box-to-box midfielder," who "shuttled up and down on the right of a very defensive three-man midfield." ^[15]

Post-retirement career

On 9 December 2005, Karembeu represented the Oceania Football Confederation at the draw for the 2006 World Cup which took place in Leipzig, Germany.

In May 2006 Karembeu became a scout for English Premiership side Portsmouth Football Club. In 2007, he was appointed as non-executive director of Birmingham International Holdings. ^[16] He left after 2010 annual general meeting. ^[17] However, in August 2009, Karembeu decided to join Arsenal's ever expanding scouting network. ^[18]

In June 2013, Karembeu was handed an administrative role at Greek club Olympiacos along with former South African footballer Pierre Issa. ^[19]

Commitment

Karembeu is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization. ^[20]

Deeply involved in Peace and Sport's activities, Karembeu visited Haiti in August 2010 with Founder and President of Peace and Sport, Joel Bouzou, to strengthen the role of sport in the country's reconstruction efforts and attract the attention of the international community to urgent needs that prevail there. He went to meet sports instructors and young beneficiaries of the emergency program that the Haitian Olympic Committee has set up in survivor camps. ^[21]

Personal life

The great-grandfather of Karembeu, who came from New Caledonia, was one of a hundred Kanaks taken to Paris in 1931 for the Paris Colonial Exposition and exhibited there as "cannibals". Later the "cannibals" were swapped with Germany for some crocodiles. ^[22] Karembeu refuses to sing France's national anthem, La Marseillaise, due to the colonial past of the country. ^[23]

Karembeu was married to Slovak model Adriana Sklenařiková, whom he met on an aeroplane. ^[24] The couple split in March 2011 and divorced in December 2012. ^[25] Their marriage was childless. In May 2017, Karembeu married Jackie Chamoun, a Lebanese skier, in Greece, followed by a wedding ceremony in Lebanon. ^[26] The couple announced the birth of their daughter on 27 September 2017. ^[27]

Following the 1998 World Cup, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1998. ^[28]

Television

Karembeu is the host of French TV series "Des Iles et des Hommes" (Of Islands and Men), aired on Planete in 2010 and 2011, a travel programme visiting among 6 of the most beautiful islands of the world. He also became part of the ITV broadcast team for Euro 2016.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ^[29]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nantes	1990–91	Division 1	4	0	1	0	–		–		5	0
	1991–92		28	0	0	0	–		–		28	0
	1992–93		35	2	3	1	–		–		38	3
	1993–94		29	0	4	0	–		2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	35	0
	1994–95		34	3	1	0	2	0	7 [lower-alpha 1]	0	44	3
	Total		130	5	9	1	2	0	9	0	150	6
Sampdoria	1995–96	Serie A	32	5	2	0	–		–		34	5
	1996–97		30	1	2	0	–		–		32	1
	Total		62	6	4	0	0	0	0	0	66	6
Real Madrid	1997–98	La Liga	16	0	2	0	–		5 [lower-alpha 2]	3	23	3
	1998–99		20	0	5	0	–		6 [lower-alpha 3]	0	31	0
	1999–2000		15	0	5	0	–		8 [lower-alpha 4]	1	28	1
	Total		51	0	12	0	0	0	19	4	82	4
Middlesbrough	2000–01	Premier League	33	4	2	0	1	0	–		36	4
Olympiacos	2001–02	Alpha Ethniki	24	1	7	1	–		6 [lower-alpha 2]	0	37	2
	2002–03		22	2	1	0	–		6 [lower-alpha 2]	0	29	2
	2003–04		22	0	5	0	–		6 [lower-alpha 2]	0	33	0
	Total		68	3	13	1	0	0	18	0	99	4
Servette	2004–05	Swiss Super League	12	0	2	0	–		–		14	0
Bastia	2005–06	Ligue 1	7	0	0	0	0	0	–		7	0
Total			395	18	42	0	3	0	46	4	486	22

1. Appearances in UEFA Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Super Cup
4. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League and three appearances in FIFA Club World Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
France	1992	1	0
	1993	0	0
	1994	6	0
	1995	4	1
	1996	13	0
	1997	4	0
	1998	10	0
	1999	4	0
	2000	4	0
	2001	6	0
	2002	1	0
Total		53	1

Honours

Nantes ^[30]

• Division 1: 1994–95
• Coupe de France runner-up: 1992–93

Real Madrid ^{[6] [31]}

• UEFA Champions League: 1997–98, 1999–2000

Olympiacos ^[30]

• Alpha Ethniki: 2001–02, 2002–03
• Greek Cup runner-up: 2001–02, 2003–04

France ^{[6] [31]}

• FIFA World Cup: 1998
• UEFA European Championship: 2000
• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2001 ^[30]

Individual

• Oceania Footballer of the Year: 1995, 1998 ^[32]
• UNFP 20 Year Special Team Trophy: 2011 ^[33]
• Olympiacos Golden Eleven ^[34]

Orders

• Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998 ^[28]

References

1. Pitoiset, Anne; Wéry, Claudine (2011). Karembeu, un champion Kanak. Éditions Le Rayon Vert. p. 23. ISBN   978-2-953-3198-1-1.
2. "Christian Karembeu: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
3. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Christian Karembeu (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
4. "Christian Karembeu". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
5. "Christian Karembeu". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
6. "Christian Karembeu - he's not worth it". The Guardian. 6 December 2001. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
7. "Christian Karembeu". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
8. Treuil, Jean-Paul; Kayi, Elif (16 December 2015). "Christian Karembeu : "Le FC Gaïtcha nous a donné des ailes pour gagner"". Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère (in French). Retrieved 24 May 2023.
9. Weir, Christopher (21 July 2018). "Christian Karembeu: The Outsider Who Divided France". These Football Times. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
10. "From New Caledonia to Stade de France". Pacific Islands Report. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
11. Sarahs, Paul (24 May 2018). "Where are they now? Real Madrid's 1998 Champions League winners". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
12. "Where are they now? Real Madrid's 1998 Champions League winners". FourFourTwo. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
13. Cox, Michael W. (2019). Zonal Marking: From Ajax to Zidane, the Making of Modern Soccer. Bold Type Books. ISBN   978-1-56858-932-9 . Retrieved 21 February 2021.
14. "Ambassadors UEFA EURO 2020". UEFA.com. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
15. Cox, Michael (9 June 2018). "World Cup favourites forgoing deep-lying playmakers". ESPN.com. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
16. "Archived copy" (PDF). 202.66.146.82. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
17. "GENERAL MANDATES TO ISSUE AND TO REPURCHASE SHARES, RE-ELECTION OF RETIRING DIRECTORS AND NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
18. "Van Persie is more of a killer than Giroud, says Arsenal scout Karembeu - Goal.com". Goal.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
19. FIFA.com
20. "Peace and Sport, L'Organisation pour la paix par le sport" . Retrieved 15 February 2015.
21. Christian Karembeu en Haïti avec des enfants sinistrés du séisme lepoint.fr , 12 août 2010
22. Political Football: Lilian Thuram Channel 4, accessed: 25 December 2011
23. "Biographie de Christian Karembeu" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
24. "Perfect People". perfectpeople.net. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
25. France Today. "France Today". Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
26. "The Marriage of Jackie Chamoun and Christian Karembeu". beiruting.com. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
27. Fr, Closermag (15 November 2017). "Christian Karembeu papa : l'ex-footballeur présente sa fille sur Instagram". closermag.fr. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
28. "Décret du 24 juillet 1998 portant nomination à titre exceptionnel" [Decree of 24 July 1998 appointing on an exceptional basis]. Official Journal of the French Republic (in French). 1998 (170). 25 July 1998. PREX9801916D. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
29. Christian Karembeu at National-Football-Teams.com
30. "Christian Karembeu". Olympiacos. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
31. "Where are they now? Real Madrid's 1998 Champions League winners". Four Four Two. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
32. "Oceanian Player of the Year". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
33. "Oscars du football - Trophée spécial UNFP". Palmarès Trophées UNFP (in French). Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
34. "Οι "Golden Eleven" του Θρύλου!". ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΟΣ - Olympiacos.org (in Greek). 5 June 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2023.

External links

• Christian Karembeu at the French Football Federation (in French)
• Christian Karembeu at the French Football Federation (archived) (in French)