Looking good for Claudio Beauvue at Guingamp
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Article summary
Few outside France had heard of Claudio Beauvue before December but a moment of serendipity gave him a more central role and, in a now familiar way, he jumped at it.
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EA Guingamp forward Claudio Beauvue has hit a rich vein of form in 2015, mirroring his performances in the UEFA Europa League group stage where he contributed four goals and an assist to the French side. One to watch in the round of 32, against FC Dynamo Kyiv, UEFA.com got the lowdown on the 26-year-old.
Clubs: ES Troyes AC, LB Châteauroux, SC Bastia (loan), EA Guingamp
UEFA honours
none
• Born in Guadeloupe, Beauvue left the Caribbean aged 14. He joined USJA Carquefou before moving a year later to the FC Nantes academy. It was at Troyes that he began his career in earnest, making his Ligue 2 debut at 19.
• ESTAC were relegated in 2009, but 11 goals from Beauvue helped them bounce straight back up. Although he endured a difficult first term back in Ligue 2, he had more joy during 18 months with Châteauroux, initially on loan, scoring 16 goals in 58 league games.
• A fan of Didier Drogba – another latecomer – Beauvue was a couple of months short of his 25th birthday when he made his top-flight bow on loan at Bastia in 2012/13. He managed a solitary goal in 15 appearances yet Guingamp saw some promise and brought him to Brittany.
• Seven goals in 2013/14 does scant justice to Beauvue's contribution in a historic campaign that ended with Guingamp lifting the French Cup for a second time. That earned a UEFA Europa League spot and the competition has brought the best out of winger Beauvue, who netted four times in Group K as his team advanced.
• When Guingamp's usual striker Sylvain Marveaux was injured in December, Beauvue was an obvious candidate to come in off the wing and replace him. Like another of his heroes, Thierry Henry, he has proved a natural. His brilliant aerial ability has earned the nicknamed 'Air Beauvue', in reference to Air Jordan. He has scored 11 Ligue 1 goals already this season.
What they say
"He's making great progress because he knows how to listen. He gets really involved, works a lot and has a good head on his shoulders. He understood that he must improve his strengths before working on his weaknesses. That's what he's focused on and that's what makes him such an effective player."
Coach Jocelyn Gouvernnec describes his impressive progress at Guingamp
What he says
"Playing game after game brings confidence. I start to know the league better. But I can still improve, just like Didier Drogba did. He blossomed quite late but he is still in great shape at his age. He's an example for me."