Barthez calls time on his career

'I quit'
"I quit the France team, I quit club football," Barthez told French television on Thursday. "I will still have fun without football," added the 35-year-old, who has been without a club since leaving Olympique de Marseille at the end of last season. Barthez has subsequently returned to his birthplace near Toulouse to be with his mother who is ill.

National glory
Barthez was his country's first-choice goalkeeper from the 1998 FIFA World Cup, which Les Bleus won on home soil, to this year's tournament which France lost in the final to Italy. He collected the last of his 87 caps - incorporating the UEFA European Championship triumph of 2000 - in the Berlin showpiece which went to a penalty shoot-out.

European champion
An outgoing character instantly recognisable for his shining bald head, he started out with Toulouse FC before winning the UEFA Champions League with Marseille in 1993 and then moving to AS Monaco FC in 1995. He later spent three years at Manchester United FC, claiming English titles in 2001 and 2003, yet returned to Marseille during the 2003/04 campaign.