Tag: FIFA

Lilian Thuram isn’t just any footballer; he’s emerged as the game’s moral conscience, not just in the French-speaking world, but more broadly. So much so that recently a packed hall at New York University came to listen to him talk about racism in football … on a Friday night. Of course we went and got our picture taken (see here) with one of the best players of his generation. Born in Martinique, his single mother took him and his siblings to Paris when he was still a little child. He played club football for Monaco, Parma, Juventus and Barcelona (in that order). He retired from playing in 2008 after being diagnosed with a heart condition. And after he scored 2 goals for France in the 1998 World Cup semi-final against Croatia, no less than Zinedine Zidane told journalists: “You write and write about me and Ronaldo, but you don’t even see that the greatest footballer of all is right in front of you: Lilian Thuram.” He’s also well-read and cites Aimé Cesaire, the Martinique poet and longtime Communist mayor of Fort-de-France, as his hero.