Mathieu Debuchy

Mathieu Debuchy

Debuchy with France at the UEFA Euro 2012
Personal information
Full name	Mathieu Debuchy[1]
Date of birth	(1985-07-28) 28 July 1985
Place of birth	Fretin, France
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Right back
Club information
Current club	Newcastle United
Number	26
Youth career
1992–1993	Frétin
1993–2003	Lille
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2013	Lille	233	(16)
2013–	Newcastle United	35	(1)
National team‡
2011–	France	18	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 February 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:00, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

Mathieu Debuchy (French pronunciation: ​[ma.tjø də.by.ʃi] ; born 28 July 1985) is a French international footballer who plays for Newcastle United. He is often deployed in the right back position, but began his career playing as a midfielder usually acting as a deep-lying playmaker.

Club career

Lille

Debuchy playing for Lille in 2011.

Debuchy began his career playing for his hometown club Union Sportive Frétin before joining Lille at the age of eight. After spending a decade in Lille's youth system, he was promoted to the senior team following the winter break of the 2003–04 season. Debuchy was given the number 33 shirt and simultaneously made his professional debut and first start on 31 January 2004 in a league match against Metz.^[2] He played the entire match as Lille recorded a 1–0 win. Debuchy made five more appearances that season, which included two starts and three substitute appearances.

The following season, Debuchy switched to the number 2 and his playing time increased significantly. He appeared in 19 matches and scored three goals. His first professional goal came against Bordeaux. Debuchy scored the goal in the first minute of the match. Lille's solid form that season resulted in the club finishing second in the league and, as a result, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. Debuchy was also instrumental in Lille's run to the Round of 16 in 2004–05 UEFA Cup where the club was eliminated by rival French club Auxerre.^[3]

Debuchy became a fixture in the starting eleven during the 2005–06 season. On 26 March 2006, he damaged knee ligaments in a league match against Strasbourg. The injury required surgery ruling him out for six months.^[4] As a result of the injury, Debuchy missed the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. A week after suffering the injury, on 4 April, Lille officials awarded Debuchy a contract extension until 2010.^[5]

Debuchy signed a contract extension on 28 February 2011, tying him down to the club until 2015.^[6] That season he was instrumental in the team's advancement to the final of the Coupe de France appearing in all five matches the team contested. In the final, Debuchy played the entire match as Lille defeated Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 at the Stade de France.^[7][8] A week later, Lille clinched the Ligue 1 championship by drawing 2–2 away to Paris Saint-Germain, Debuchy providing the cross from which Moussa Sow netted Lille's second goal.^[9] The result meant that the players had achieved the club's first league championship since the 1953–54 season and the club's first double since the 1945–46 season.^[10][11] The domestic cup and league title were the first two domestic honours of Debuchy's career.

The following season started off with a 1–1 draw against Nancy on 6 August 2011, with the right back opening the scoring in the 47th minute.^[12] Debuchy was part of the Lille squad that dramatically fell 5–4 to Bordeaux on 12 February 2012, scoring Lille's third goal of the game as former teammate, Ludovic Obraniak netted the winner in the 90th minute.^[13] The following weekend, Lille got back on track with a 1–0 defeat of Lorient, as Debuchy scored the only goal of the game.^[14] Debuchy started and played the full 90 minutes in all six group games of the Champions League that season, as Lille finished bottom of their tight group and crashed out of Europe because of a 0–0 draw with Trabzonspor on the final matchday.^[15][16] The campaign was hugely successful for Debuchy on a personal level as he made his breakthrough in the French squad as well as being named in the UNFP Team of the Year.^[17] Following the season, Lille manager Rudi Garcia described Debuchy as a defender who "plays high and attacks but defensively is also very rigorous and he exudes confidence."

Newcastle United

Debuchy moved to English club Newcastle United on 4 January 2013, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract until the summer 2018, for an undisclosed fee, reportedly £5.5 million.^[18][19] He made his debut for Newcastle on 12 January 2013 against Norwich City.^[20][21] He scored his first Newcastle goal in the Tyne-Wear Derby against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on the 27th of October 2013, levelling the score after half time before ultimately losing 2-1.

International career

Debuchy has been capped with the under-21 team. On 5 August 2010, Debuchy was called up to the senior team for the first time by new manager Laurent Blanc for the team's friendly match against Norway on 11 August 2010 but did not win his first cap until November 2011.^[22] He scored his first goal for France in a friendly against Iceland on 27 May 2012.^[23] Blanc selected Debuchy in his final 23-man squad for the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine on 29 May.^[24] He started at right back for Les Bleus opening match against England, helping his side to a 1–1 draw, in which his performance was hailed as "outstanding"^[25] and "terrific."^[26] He played the full 90 minutes of France's second group match against, a 2–0 defeat of co-hosts Ukraine on 15 June.^[27]

Career statistics

Club

Correct as of 1 February 2014.^[28]

International

(Correct as of 19 November 2013)^[29]

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	27 May 2012	Stade du Hainaut, Valenciennes, France	Iceland	1–2	3–2	Friendly match
2	11 October 2013	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	Australia	5–0	6–0	Friendly match
Correct as of 11 October 2013

Honours

Club

Lille

• Ligue 1: 2010–11
• Coupe de France: 2010–11

Individual

• UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2011–12

Notes

1. ↑ Includes Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des Champions
2. ↑ Includes UEFA Supercup

References

External links

• Mathieu Debuchy French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• Mathieu Debuchy at L'Équipe Football (French)
• Mathieu Debuchy – FIFA competition record
• Mathieu Debuchy – UEFA competition record
• Transfermarkt profile
• ESPN FC profile

v t e France squad – UEFA Euro 2012 1 Lloris (c) 2 Debuchy 3 Evra 4 Rami 5 Mexès 6 Cabaye 7 Ribéry 8 Valbuena 9 Giroud 10 Benzema 11 Nasri 12 Matuidi 13 Réveillère 14 Ménez 15 Malouda 16 Mandanda 17 M'Vila 18 Diarra 19 Martin 20 Ben Arfa 21 Koscielny 22 Clichy 23 Carrasso Coach: Blanc