| ROBERT PIRES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
|
Full name: Robert Pires Nationality: French Born: 29th October 1973 Reims, France Height: 185cm / 6'1" Weight: 74kg / 163lb Position: Midfielder Joined Arsenal: 3rd July 2000 Arsenal Debut: Premier League v Sunderland (a) 19th Aug 2000 (Lost 1-0) Previous Clubs: Stade Reims FC Metz O. Marseille (All France) Winger Pires, who replaced Barcelona bound Marc Overmars at Arsenal, set up France's golden goal winner in the Euro 2000 final and won a World Cup medal in 1998. To complete the set, he was named Player of the Tournament at the 2001 Confederations Cup. Has still to win silverware with Arsenal, though. A former Metz and Marseilles player, he was part of the latter's UEFA Champions League side in 1999/2000 and a French League Cup winner with the former in 1996. He joined Arsenal in the summer of 2000 for �6million and with his pace and and incisiveness he was a good addition to Arsene Wenger's attacking armoury. Following his debut against Sunderland in August he found it hard to settle into the English game, and was widely mocked for revealing how violent he thought the English game looked. Countered his critics and came of age when netting a superb late leveller at Lazio in the 00/01 Champions League. Pires endeared himself to the fans by scoring the goal which clinched Arsenal's 2-1 win over arch-rivals Tottenham in the FA Cup semifinals in the same season. Gets better with every game. |
|||