Fabien Barthez

Barthez future in jeopardy

French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez (C) dives for the ball next to teammate defender Bixente Lizarazu (R), 12 July during the 1998 World Cup final match Brazil vs France at the stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO PASCAL GEORGE

French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez kisses the FIFA Trophy 12 July at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, after France defeated Brazil 3-0 in the 1998 World Cup final to win its first-ever title. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO GABRIEL BOUYS

Fabien Barthez is one of the most exciting and charismatic goalkeepers in action today who has played a key part in helping his clubs and his country achieve outstanding success

Although Barthez became the France number one in February 1997 when Bernard Lama tested positive for cannabis, now nearly 8 years later to the day, he may lose his national job after spitting at a referee.

One of the heroes for France during their winning campaigns at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, the shaven-headed 'keeper blew a fuse when playing a "friendly" for Marseille against Casablanca in 2005 and picked up a six-month ban when he spat at the referee.

The ban expired just months before the World Cup but in his absence, Gregory Coupet has been brilliant and Barthez now faces a similar fate to Lama, with the roles reversed.

The debate is now raging as to whether the love-affair between Barthez (record holder for French goalkeeping caps) and the national team is now over.

Out of favour at United

French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez (R) stops a shot by Spanish forward Alfonso during the Euro 2000 quarter-final match between France and Spain in Bruges 25 June 2000. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) EPA PHOTO / OLIVER BERG

French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez goes for the ball during a training session with Toulouse FC in Toulouse, 06 March 1992.

The Frenchman spent his early years at Toulouse, where he is now patron of the club's youth training centre, before Marseille supremo Bernard Tapie took a fancy to him during a match against Toulouse and a year later Barthez was heading for the Mediterranean.

His first season was a sensation as Marseille swept to the European Champions League with a memorable victory over AC Milan.

When Marseille were relegated to the second division after being caught up in a match-fixing scandal in 1994, Barthez stayed loyal to his club.

French International goalkeeper Fabien Barthez answers questions 31 May 2000 during a press conference at the headquarters of Manchester United. Fabien Barthez earlier today signed for English champions Manchester United, who confirmed that an agreement was reached with AS Monaco for a fee of 7.8 million pounds (11.7 millions US dollars) payable on June 1 - a British record for a keeper.

But in 1995 he joined Monaco and helped guide them to the French championship in 1997 and 2000.

Barthez' remarkable sense of anticipation and his innate handling skills soon tempted Manchester United, and just before the Euro 2000 competition he signed a six-year deal with the English club.

France's victories at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 combined with his relationship with super-model Linda Evangelista made Barthez a star and he looked set for a rosy future at United.

However the 2002 World Cup was a miserable experience for everyone concerned with France although Barthez could not be held responsible for their first-round exit.

Then, despite helping United to a second title in 2003, United manager Alex Ferguson relegated Barthez to the subs bench the following season and after an inactive period, he returned to Marseille.

After helping Marseille to the UEFA Cup final in 2004, he was back in goal for France at Euro 2004 where 'Les Bleus' crashed out meekly to Greece at the quarter-final stage.

He has now served his ban for the spitting incident and vows to retire following the 2006 World Cup but whether he can regain his job as France number one remains uncertain.