sports stars: robert pires French international footballer

Early years
Pirès was born in Reims to a Portuguese father and Spanish mother. Pirès, the eldest of two boys, spent most of his childhood dressed in two football shirts that reflected his divided loyalty. One was a Portugal shirt (his father was a Benfica fan) and the other was a Real Madrid shirt. Pirès confessed he had difficulty in school because his French was not good due to the fact his parents only spoke Spanish and Portuguese.[3] His passion for football was inherited from his father, António, who played with Les Corpo, a local team, and every Saturday night Pirès would watch him play. At the age of 15, Pirès left school and began his dream of a career in football with a two-year sports degree course in Reims. At the insistence of his mother, Pirès continued with Reims and eventually was called up four years later.
Career
France
Pirès is a graduate of the FC Metz youth academy, making his senior debut in 1993 against Lyon. During his six seasons there, he scored 43 goals in 162 matches, and won the Coupe de la Ligue, prompting a £5 million move to Olympique de Marseille in 1998. At Marseille, Pirès had a mixed two-year stay. His first season saw Marseille miss the French league title by a point and they also lost the 1999 UEFA Cup Final to Parma. His second season saw him suffer a spate of on- and off-field problems, which led him to boycott the club at the season's end.
Arsenal
Pirès was signed by Arsenal for £6 million in 2000, after stiff competition from Real Madrid and Juventus, replacing Marc Overmars, who had left for Barcelona for a record £25 million.[3] Initially, Pirès' form was indifferent, and some people criticised him after his comments that the English game was too physical. However, he slowly began to regain the form he had shown at Metz, scoring a superb solo goal against Lazio in the 2000–01 Champions League,[5] and the winner against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-finals.[6] However, Arsenal went on to lose the Cup final to Liverpool 2–1.
By 2001–02, Pirès had fully got to grips with the English game and had one of his best seasons. Pirès scored superb goals against Middlesbrough and Aston Villa. Against Aston Villa, Pirès chased after a long ball by Freddie Ljungberg, and lobbed the ball over the pursuing George Boateng, and finished off the move with a delightful chip over Peter Schmeichel. He led the Premier League assist charts and was voted both FWA Footballer of the Year and Arsenal's player of the season, as Arsenal won the league title. This was despite not playing the last two months of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in a FA Cup match against Newcastle United.
After a lengthy layoff, Pirès made his comeback in November 2002 as a substitute against AJ Auxerre in the UEFA Champions League. Although Pirès initially found it tough, he eventually returned to form, scoring 14 Premiership goals in 20 starts that season, including a hat-trick against Southampton on the penultimate day of the season. Pirès was voted Barclaycard Player of the Month for February 2003. Pirès capped off his season by scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup Final against Southampton.
He went on to be a crucial part of Arsenal's quest for the Premier League title in the 2003–04 season, which they achieved, remaining unbeaten and becoming the first English top flight club to do so in 115 years. Pirès and his Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry were instrumental in that season, scoring a combined 57 goals in all competitions. Pirès made a sluggish start to the campaign, but a wonder-goal against Liverpool at Anfield kick-started his season. Pirès showed football fans his sublime technique, skills and finishing, most notably with his goals against Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers, and Leeds United. He surprised a lot of people with a world class tackle on Claude Makélélé and, following that, a run into the penalty box which dragged William Gallas and John Terry away, thus making space for Patrick Vieira to have a one-on-one with the Chelsea goalkeeper and subsequently scoring. Arsenal won that match 2–1, with Vieira's goal the equaliser. That day of Premier League action proved decisive, as Manchester United's failure to beat Leeds United during the same day resulted in Arsenal getting a huge lead in the title race. Arsenal never lost 1st place in the table for the rest of the season. More notably, Pirès will always be remembered for a game in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final's 1st leg match against Chelsea, where he managed to beat John Terry to a header, which resulted in the equaliser for Arsenal, after Eiður Guðjohnsen had given Chelsea the lead. Unfortunately for Arsenal and Pirès, they were eliminated after they lost 1–2 in the return leg, courtesy of a 87th minute Wayne Bridge goal. Pirès also showed his playmaking skills in the wonderfully crafted goal against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, in which Pirès was the architect in building up the goal, and capped off the move with a sublime finish to score Arsenal's 2nd goal of the game. Tottenham refused to give up, and managed to claw their way back and claimed a 2–2 draw. Despite that, Arsenal won the title after the match. Pirès finished that season with an impressive tally of 14 goals and seven assists in the Premier League. He was Arsenal's second top scorer (behind Thierry Henry) and had the joint amount of assists (along with Dennis Bergkamp) that season.
In the 2004–05 season, Pirès finished third in the Premiership goalscorers table with 14 goals, behind teammate Thierry Henry and Crystal Palace's Andrew Johnson. Pirès also picked up a second FA Cup winners' medal after Arsenal beat Manchester United on penalties. Pirès was replaced by Edu in the 2nd half of extra time in that match.
During the 2005–06 season, Pirès wrangled with Arsenal over a new contract, in the hope of a new two-year deal. In keeping with the club's policy regarding players over 30, Pirès was only offered a 12-month extension to his contract, which expired in June 2006. Pirès started the season poorly, and players such as Freddie Ljungberg, José Antonio Reyes and Alexander Hleb were preferred to him on both wings. As the season progressed, though, Pirès's form improved, outscoring his selection rivals overall. Pirès played his last game for Arsenal in the UEFA Champions league final against FC Barcelona, in which he was substituted after goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's sending off during the match. Pirès ended the season as Arsenal's joint second top scorer along with Robin van Persie.
In May 2006, Pirès agreed to an offer from Villarreal CF[8] after a month of speculation, during which time he played against Villareal in the Champions League semi-final. One of the main reasons Pirès gave for leaving Arsenal was that he felt he was no longer a first choice under manager Arsène Wenger. Pirès was quoted saying: "I have to say I have had some disappointments this season. For instance, I was on the bench very often".[9] Pirès additionally suggested that Wenger's decision to withdraw him in the UEFA Champions League Final showed he had slipped in the eyes of his French boss. Pirès said that he felt hurt by how Wenger did not trust him anymore, which was a major factor that convinced him that it was time to move on from Arsenal.