Happy Birthday, Laurent Blanc!

An almost ever-present in the French game since making his Montpellier debut back in 1983, Laurent Blanc celebrates his 60th birthday today.

A prolific start

Blanc is probably most associated with France's 1998 World Cup win, and his Golden Goal against Paraguay in that tournament, even if he famously missed the final against Brazil after receiving a red card, the only one of his entire career, in the semi-finals. He was an elite defender for the national side and at club level, but his prolific beginnings have been largely forgotten.

Absolved of his defensive responsibilities at Montpellier, his first professional club, Blanc was a prolific goalscorer before he became an elite defender. He scored an impressive 76 goals in 243 games for La Paillade between 1983-1991, including 18 goals in a single Ligue 2 BKT season, which not only helped MHSC back into the top-flight, it saw Blanc finish only three goals behind the eventual top-scorer that season.

However, it was his final season at Montpellier that proved career-altering as his swashbuckling style and composure on the ball saw him repurposed as a defender. Consequently, the 76 goals that he scored for Montpellier are more than the goals that he scored for his other eight clubs combined (49).

#OnThisDay in 1998 @OM_English defender Laurent Blanc scored a golden goal to power @FrenchTeam past Paraguay in the @FIFAWorldCup #Ligue1LesBleus pic.twitter.com/ltkKLF8BdA
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) June 29, 2020

Blanc would go on to play for Napoli, Nimes, Saint-Étienne, Auxerre, Barcelona, Marseille, Inter Milan and Manchester United, where the Frenchman would conclude his career as a professional player in 2003.

It brought an end to a glittering career that, for club, ended with one Ligue 1 McDonald's title (with Auxerre back in 1996), two Coupe de France (Auxerre 1996, Montpellier 1990), and also a Premier League title with Manchester United in 2003. His international career (97 caps, 16 goals) will always be defined by that triumph in '98.

A swift managerial conversion

Upon the conclusion of his playing career, he quickly turned his hand to management. He began at Bordeaux, where he would manage 159 games between 2007 and 2010, winning Ligue 1 McDonald's in the 2008/09 seaon. He then managed Les Bleus at international level, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 2012 Euros before an eventual 2-0 defeat to Spain.

His next job would be at PSG, where he would win the league in three consecutive seasons between 2013 and 2016, as well as securing two Coupe de France titles. Since leaving Les Parisiens in 2016, he has managed Al-Rayyan, Lyon, and Al-Ittihad. His most recent job was at the latter, and he left that post back in September of this year, having spent just over one year in charge of the Saudi Pro League side.

A legend of the French game, firstly as a player and then as a manager - Happy Birthday, Laurent Blanc!

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