Blaise Matuidi

Early career

Matuidi began his football career at the age of six playing for hometown club US Fontenay-sous-Bois. After five years at the club, he joined CO Vincennes in nearby Vincennes, where he was teammates with Yacine Brahimi for a year. In 1999, Matuidi was rated as one of the best players in the Île-de-France region and was subsequently selected to attend the prestigious INF Clairefontaine academy. He trained at the academy for three seasons, playing there on weekdays while simultaneously playing for Vincennes on the weekends. In 2001, Matuidi left Vincennes to sign for semi-professional club Créteil. He spent one year in the club youth academy quickly becoming one of the club's most sought after prospects. Despite an intriguing offer from the two-time defending champions Lyon, Matuidi signed with Troyes, citing the club's training centre as his primary reason.

Troyes

Matuidi began his career with Troyes playing on the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth division of French football. In November 2004, he was called up to the senior team by manager Jean-Marc Furlan and made his professional debut on 23 November in the team's Ligue 2 match against Gueugnon. Matuidi started the match and played over 60 minutes in a 2–1 victory. His only other appearance with the senior team in the 2004–05 season came on 4 February 2005 in a league match against Guingamp. Matuidi was relegated back to the club's reserve team for the rest…

Matuidi is a former French youth international, having represented his nation at under-19 and under-21 level. He went unnoticed while developing at both Créteil and Troyes; after establishing himself in the 2006–07 season with the latter club, however, he was called up to the under-19 team by coach Guy Ferrier. Matuidi made his youth international debut on 5 October 2005 in a 4–0 friendly match victory over Norway. He subsequently appeared with the team in qualifying matches for the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. France ultimately failed to qualify for the competition and Matuidi finished the campaign with nine appearances and no goals. Matuidi earned his first call up to the under-21 team under coach René Girard in the team's first match following the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship against Belgium, appearing as a half-time substitute for Jimmy Briand. He featured in qualification matches for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and appeared as a substitute in both legs of the team's surprising defeat to Israel in the qualifying playoffs. Matuidi was among a handful of underage players who remained with the team after its elimination appearing with the team in its first match of 2007 against Sweden, which France won 4–0. Matuidi appeared with the team in the next ten matches, which included qualifiers for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. After missing the last match of 2007, he returned to the team…

Described as a "fierce and strong tackler", with good defensive attributes, Matuidi was known in particular for his energy, work-rate, mobility, tenacity, and physical strength, as well as his discipline, positional sense, and tactical intelligence, which enabled him to excel in a holding role as a ball-winner in midfield, due to his ability to close down spaces, intercept loose balls, or break down possession. Despite not being particularly skilful or gifted from a technical standpoint, he was a versatile and well-rounded team player, who was capable of playing in several other midfield positions, and was known for his ability to carry, distribute the ball, and start attacking plays after winning back possession, often acting as a box-to-box player in the centre of the pitch. His movement on the pitch also allowed him to contribute to his team's offensive play, as it often drew opponents out of position, and in turn created space for his teammates. He was also capable of making effective attacking runs into the box and scoring goals, which saw him deployed in a more offensive, left-sided central midfield role during his time with Juventus under manager Massimiliano Allegri, a position known as the mezzala or incursore role in Italian football jargon. Although his main influence was Claude Makélélé, his playing style was also compared to that of Jean Tigana. During the 2018 World Cup, Matuidi was also deployed in a new position for France under manager Deschamps, playing out…

Blaise Matuidi was born on 9 April 1987 in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, to an Angolan father, Faria Rivelino, and a Congolese mother, Élise. Rivelino emigrated to France at a young age. Matuidi has four other siblings and was raised in the Parisian suburb of Fontenay-sous-Bois, Val-de-Marne. He grew an attraction to the sport of football watching Paris Saint-Germain and became an admirer of former PSG attacker Jay-Jay Okocha.