Jérôme Rothen facts for kids
Rothen in 2008
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jérôme René Marcel Rothen | ||
| Date of birth | 31 March 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Châtenay-Malabry, Hauts-de-Seine, France | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1983–1988 | AS Meudon | ||
| 1988–1991 | Versailles | ||
| 1991–1994 | INF Clairefontaine | ||
| 1994–1997 | Caen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2000 | Caen | 98 | (11) |
| 2000–2002 | Troyes | 46 | (4) |
| 2002–2004 | Monaco | 82 | (5) |
| 2004–2010 | Paris Saint-Germain | 139 | (10) |
| 2009 | → Rangers (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Ankaragücü (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Bastia | 60 | (7) |
| 2013 | Caen | 8 | (1) |
| Total | 449 | (38) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003–2007 | France | 13 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Jérôme René Marcel Rothen, born on March 31, 1978, is a former French professional footballer. He played as a winger, which is a player who runs along the sides of the field. After retiring from playing, he became a football expert on TV.
Jérôme Rothen played 13 times for the French national team. He helped France win the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003. He also played in the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament. For his clubs, Rothen won the Coupe de France once and the Coupe de la Ligue twice with Paris Saint-Germain. He also won the Coupe de la Ligue with Monaco. Rothen was known for his great skills, especially his free kicks, crossing the ball, and accurate passing.
Contents
Club Football Journey
Starting Out in Football
Jérôme Rothen trained at the famous Clairefontaine Football Academy in France. This academy is well-known for developing many talented French players.
He began his professional career with Caen. Later, he moved to Troyes AC, where he played under the manager Alain Perrin.
Playing for Monaco
On January 1, 2002, AS Monaco bought Rothen for €5 million. With Monaco, Rothen helped the team win the Coupe de la Ligue in 2003. This is a major French football cup.
He also played a big part in helping Monaco reach the final of the UEFA Champions League in May 2004. This is one of the biggest club competitions in Europe. However, they lost the final match 3–0 to FC Porto.
Time at Paris Saint-Germain
Rothen grew up near Paris, so joining Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2004 was a dream come true for him. He joined PSG for €11 million. He even turned down offers from big European clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea to play for the team he supported as a child.
His time at PSG started tough. He was often injured and played in only a few games in his first season. The 2005-06 season was also difficult. He struggled to play as well as he had at Monaco. Despite injuries, he helped PSG win the Coupe de France against their rivals Olympique de Marseille.
In late 2006, after returning from an injury, Rothen felt left out by the coach. He even thought about leaving the club. But when a new coach, Paul Le Guen, arrived in January 2007, Rothen decided to stay. Slowly, he started playing much better. His improved performance helped PSG avoid being moved down to a lower league.
In the summer of 2007, other clubs wanted to sign him. But Rothen stayed in Paris. He had a great start to the 2007–08 season. He was even voted the league's player of the month in September. He also got back into the France national football team. He scored a goal from a free-kick on October 13, 2007, against the Faroe Islands.
PSG continued to struggle in the 2007–08 season. Rothen became a very important player for the team. He was known for his creativity and his ability to cross the ball well. People even said PSG relied too much on him. Other players were brought in to help, but PSG still depended on Rothen to help them stay in the top league in May 2008.
The 2008-09 season was his last full season in Paris. He played in 34 league games, which was his most since 2004. However, new creative players joined the team, like Stéphane Sessègnon and Ludovic Giuly. In the summer of 2009, a new coach, Antoine Kombouaré, arrived. He decided Rothen was not needed and sent him to play with the reserve team.
Loan to Rangers
On September 1, 2009, Rothen joined Scottish Premier League club Rangers on a one-year loan from PSG. He played his first game for Rangers on September 12, 2009, against Motherwell. He also played in the Champions League for Rangers in a 1–1 draw against Stuttgart.
Loan to Ankaragücü
After returning to France, Rothen's relationship with Rangers became difficult. Rangers wanted him to leave because they didn't want to pay his salary if he wasn't going to play.
On January 22, 2010, Rothen flew to Turkey. He signed a six-month loan deal with Ankaragücü. He had turned down offers from Greek teams before joining Ankaragücü.
Playing for Bastia
In May 2011, almost a year after his contract with Paris ended, Rothen signed a two-year contract with SC Bastia. This club from Corsica had just been promoted to the French Ligue 2. Rothen played his first game for Bastia on July 29, 2011, against Istres, and Bastia won 3–1. He helped the team win the Ligue 2 title in the 2011-12 season. He was also chosen as the Ligue 2 Player of the Year.
Returning to Caen and Retirement
In July 2013, Rothen went back to his first senior club, Caen. On January 1, 2014, he announced that he was retiring from playing professional football.
International Career for France
Jérôme Rothen played his first game for the France national football team on March 29, 2003, against Malta.
He was part of the French team at Euro 2004. He made a short appearance as a substitute in their quarter-final loss to Greece. Rothen was not chosen for the 2006 FIFA World Cup team.
He was called back to the squad for Euro 2008 qualifying games. On October 10, 2007, he scored a fantastic free-kick goal against the Faroe Islands. This was the last free-kick goal scored for France by a player until June 13, 2015.
His Autobiography
On October 8, 2008, Jérôme Rothen released his autobiography, a book about his life, called You're Not Going To Believe Me. The book got a lot of attention. One part of the book talked about an incident involving Zinedine Zidane, who was his teammate on the French national team.
Rothen wrote about a moment during a Champions League game in 2004 between Monaco and Real Madrid. He described a tackle by Zidane. Rothen said he was surprised by Zidane's reaction after the tackle. He expected Zidane to apologize later, but he didn't, which disappointed Rothen.
In an interview with a French newspaper, Rothen said he didn't mean to make Zidane look bad by sharing this story. He also said he didn't feel pressured to remove that part from his book.
Honours and Awards
Jérôme Rothen won several titles and awards during his football career:
Troyes
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001
Monaco
- Coupe de la Ligue: 2002–03
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2003–04 (meaning they reached the final but didn't win)
Paris Saint-Germain
- Coupe de France: 2005–06
- Coupe de la Ligue: 2007–08
- Trophée des Champions runner-up: 2004, 2006
Bastia
- Ligue 2: 2011–12 (they won the second division league)
France National Team
- FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual Awards
- Ligue 2 Team of the Year: 1999–2000, 2011–12 (chosen as one of the best players in the league)
- Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2002–03
- LFP Player of the Month: February 2003
- UNFP Player of the Month: September 2007 (Ligue 1), February 2012 (Ligue 2)
- Ligue 2 Player of the Year: 2011–12 (chosen as the best player in the league)
See also
In Spanish: Jérôme Rothen para niños
