Stéphane Ruffier

Early life and career

Ruffier was born on 27 September 1986 in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, to Jean-François Ruffier, a world champion in the sport of Basque pelota, and Patricia Ruffier. He has two sisters, one of which is a figure skater. Ruffier is of Basque descent having been born and raised in the heart of French Basque Country. Despite emulating his father's skills in Basque pelota as a child, Ruffier grew an attraction to the sport of football and joined the football section of the Aviron Bayonnais sporting club at the age of six. He entered the academy initially as an outfield player and was training to become a striker. However, at the age of eight, due to a goalkeeper shortage at the academy, Ruffier was asked by a youth coach to try out for the position. The transition was a success and, by the age of 13, Ruffier had acquired the physical skills and traits needed to excel at the position. While in the youth system of Bayonne, Ruffier helped the club's under-13 team win the Coupe de Pyrénées. The following season, he attended a trial session with professional club Montpellier, but ultimately failed to impress. In 2002, Ruffier was spotted by Monaco scout Arnold Catalano. Catalano is known for recruiting Thierry Henry to the club and recommended Ruffier join Monaco on a trial. On 2 August 2002, after a successful trial with the club, Ruffier signed an aspirant (youth trainee) contract with the club.

Monaco

Upon his arrival to the club, Ruffier…

During Ruffier's development at Monaco, he was absent from the France youth national teams. After receiving consistent playing time at Monaco, Ruffier was called up to the under-21 team in November 2007. On 15 November 2007, he made his under-21 debut playing the entire match in the team's 1–1 draw with Armenia in Colmar. He appeared in several matches for the team in qualification for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, but ultimately failed to make the squad that lost 2–1 on aggregate to Germany in the team's two-legged playoff match. The elimination from the competition ended Ruffier's under-21 career. During the 2009–10 season, Ruffier earned praise from the media for his performances. The praise led to calls for the player to be called up to the senior team. However, coach Raymond Domenech preferred Cédric Carrasso as the team's third-choice keeper and took him, along with Lloris and Steve Mandanda to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On 16 June 2010, goalkeeper Carrasso dropped out of the team due to injury and the national team's goalkeeper coach Bruno Martini contacted Ruffier to travel to South Africa and replace him. Despite FIFA denying the team's request of a replacement player, Ruffier still trained with the team and was on the team bus during the player boycott to protest the dismissal of striker Nicolas Anelka. On 23 July 2010, following a meeting by the Federal Council of the French Football Federation, all 23 players in the World Cup squad were suspended…

Club

International

Source:

Saint-Étienne

Coupe de la Ligue: 2012–13 Coupe de France runner-up: 2019–20