Emmanuel Petit

Petit began his career at minor club ES Arques-la-Bataille before being signed by Arsène Wenger's Monaco side at the age of 18. He made his debut soon after and played in the 1989 Coupe de France final. Petit became a regular at Monaco, playing as a left-sided or central midfielder. In 1991, he won the Coupe de France with Monaco and also played in the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup final (which Monaco lost to Werder Bremen). In 1996–97, his final season at Monaco, he captained his side to the Ligue 1 title. Petit joined Arsenal in June 1997 for £2.5 million, where he was reunited with his former Monaco manager Arsène Wenger. Wenger switched Petit from central midfielder to defensive midfielder, and partnered him with fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira. The French duo formed a midfield partnership which brought instant success, as Petit won the double with Arsenal in his very first season, clinching both the Premier League title and the FA Cup. Altogether, in the three seasons in his Arsenal career, Petit made 118 appearances and scored 11 goals, including a stunning drive from outside the area against Derby County (which was also the winning goal), during the 1997–98 season. Petit moved to Barcelona (together with Arsenal teammate Marc Overmars) in the summer of 2000 for £7 million (€14 million). At Barcelona, he was moved back into defence and suffered a rash of niggling injuries. As a result, he failed to settle and could not hold down a regular place. In his biography,…

Playing for the France national team, Petit earned 63 caps and scored six international goals in his career and won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He scored twice in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the first from a powerful shot from just outside the box against Denmark, which turned out to be the match winner, and a second in the final against Brazil. The goal he scored in the final was particularly memorable, as he had embarked on an optimistic run across field before calmly slotting in the goal in the final minute of regular time. That same goal happened to be the 1,000th goal in the history of the French Football Federation and the last FIFA World Cup Finals goal of the 20th century. France won the match 3–0. An earlier Petit corner kick had set up Zinedine Zidane's header for France's first goal. Petit was also part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup squad, though France failed to advance past the group stages and failed to score a single goal in three matches during their defence of the trophy. Petit retired from international football in September 2003.

Although capable of playing as a defender, Petit usually played as a defensive midfielder throughout his career, and was known for his energy, work-rate, strength, tackling, aerial prowess, and positional intelligence in this position, as well as his elegance, his passing range, and his striking ability from distance with his left foot; as such, he was not only capable of breaking up attacks, but of dictating play in midfield, creating chances for teammates, and even scoring goals.

Emmanuel Laurent Petit was born on 22 September 1970 in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, and grew up in Arques-la-Bataille, Seine-Maritime.