text: mathieu valbuena mathieu valbuena ( french pronunciation : ​ [ ] ; born 28 september 1984 ) is a french international footballer who plays for ligue 1 club lyon and the france national team . he plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger and is known for his pace , technical ability , and tenacious style of play . he is described by his former coach at libourne saint - seurin didier tholot as " an explosive player who is capable of quickly taking two opponents out of the game to create space , above all due to his dribbling skills . " due to his small stature , valbuena is nicknamed le petit , which translates to " the small bike " . this is a play on valbuena 's size and the fact that marseille 's home ground is called the stade vélodrome . valbuena began his career at professional club bordeaux . he was let go from the club after two seasons and subsequently joined amateur club langon - castets in the fifth division of french football . in 2004 , valbuena joined libourne saint - seurin in the championnat national , the third level of french football . the midfielder had a good 2005 – 06 season with the club and signed with ligue 1 club marseille , prior to the 2006 – 07 season . with marseille , valbuena played in the uefa champions league for the first time and , in the 2009 – 10 season , was part of the team that won the league and league cup double , as well as the trophée des champions . valbuena is a french international and made his debut with the team in may 2010 in a friendly match against costa rica . he scored his first international goal in the same match and was named to the team to participate in the 2010 fifa world cup as a result . valbuena appeared in only one of the three matches france contested at the world cup . in november 2010 , he scored his second career international goal against england at wembley stadium . personal life valbuena was born in the southwestern commune of bruges in the gironde department to mother brigitte and father carlos . he is of spanish origin through his father , who is originally from the city of valladolid . valbuena 's father works for the city council of bordeaux . valbuena grew up in nearby blanquefort where his parents still reside . on 24 december 2010 , while traveling to blanquefort to celebrate christmas with his parents , valbuena was involved in a car accident after losing control of his lamborghini murciélago while driving near . he survived the accident without any injuries . club career early career valbuena began his football career at hometown club es blanquefort . he developed an interest in the sport of football through his paternal heritage as he often attended matches at the camp nou in barcelona during school holidays as a youth . at the age of nine , his football career was put on hold after he received over 50 stitches in one of his legs following a swimming accident . after the injury healed , valbuena returned to football and quickly impressed club coaches . in 1998 , he was given a best player award at a local youth tournament played at the camp des loges , the training center of professional club paris saint - germain . in 2001 , valbuena was recruited by professional club fc girondins de bordeaux . valbuena spent two years playing on the club 's under - 18 team playing alongside the likes of rio mavuba and marouane chamakh . valbuena appeared in only three matches with the reserve team before being released from the club after failing to impress jean - louis garcia , the reserve team manager . it has been commonly stated that valbuena was let go by the club due to his small size ; however , former club player and trainer philippe lucas explained that valbuena was let go because he struggled to " transform his game from that of a young player to that of a professional " and that " his game needed to be faster and he needed to avoid confrontations " . amateur career after being let go by bordeaux , valbuena put his ambitions of becoming a professional player on hold , and was recommended by garcia to play for amateur club langan - castets in the championnat de france amateur 2 , the fifth division of french football . unlike at bordeaux where he trained numerous times a week , valbuena only trained three times a week with langon - castets and , due to the club 's amateur status , worked as a sports shop salesman when he was not playing football . in his only season at the club , he impressed with his technical ability and was subsequently recruited by championnat national club libourne saint - seurin who had scouted the player eight times while he was at langon - castets . while at libourne saint - seurin , valbuena 's play went through an upgrade . in his first season at the club , he struggled for meaningful minutes under coach andré , playing in 20 league matches and scoring two goals . was fired mid - season and was replaced by didier tholot . the club ultimately finished the season in 13th place in the league . in the next season , manager tholot took immediate notice of valbuena . tholot described valbuena as " the architect of the team " and sought to build the team around him . as a result , valbuena 's playing time improved dramatically . he played in 31 league matches and scored nine goals , all of which came in victories . valbuena earned rave reviews for his performances , but still suffered criticism on occasion due to " wanting to do everything " as stated by tholot . on 12 august 2005 , he scored his first goal of the season in a 2 – 0 win over moulins . two weeks later , valbuena scored a double in a 3 – 1 victory away to cherbourg . one low - point during the season came on 9 september 2005 in libourne 's 2 – 1 defeat to ajaccio when valbuena received his first - ever red card . the loss was the team 's first of the season and valbuena was suspended for three matches . valbuena returned to the team on 7 october in a 1 – 0 loss to bayonne . in november 2005 , valbuena returned to his early season form after scoring four goals over the course of three matches . he scored his first goal of the month on 5 november in a 2 – 1 win at home against nîmes . two weeks later , valbuena scored against angers in another win and , in the following week , scored both goals in a 2 – 0 win over pau . as a result of his performances , valbuena was linked to several clubs in ligue 1 and ligue 2 , most notably saint - étienne and auxerre , in december . the midfielder , however , denied the approaches stating his desire to help libourne achieve promotion to the second division . valbuena went scoreless through the winter months , but remained a fixture in the starting eleven as the club remained in contention for promotion to ligue 2 . on 29 april 2006 , with libourne in a battle for the final promotion spot , valbuena scored another double , this time against toulon in another shutout victory . libourne went unbeaten in its final four matches , which resulted in the club finishing in third place , thus achieving promotion to ligue 2 for the first time in its history since the local clubs of libourne and saint - seurin agreed to merge in 1998 . for his efforts that season , valbuena was named the league 's player of the year , which led to heightened interest from several professional clubs in ligue 2 and ligue 1 . marseille 2006 – 2010 on 9 june 2006 , valbuena signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a transfer to olympique de marseille . he signed a three - year deal with the club and was assigned the number 28 shirt by manager eric gerets . valbuena made his professional debut for the club on 15 july 2006 in the team 's third round match against ukrainian club dnipro dnipropetrovsk in the 2006 uefa intertoto cup . he subsequently struggled to meet the demands of training and suffered an ankle injury in the pre - season period , which resulted in the player missing the start of the 2006 – 07 season . valbuena made his league debut on 19 november 2006 in a league match against valenciennes appearing as a substitute in the team 's 1 – 0 victory . he appeared as a substitute for the majority of the season and even spent some time playing on the club 's reserve team in the fifth division . on 19 may 2007 , valbuena scored his first professional goal in a 2 – 1 victory over saint - étienne . the game - winning goal allowed the club to maintain control of second place , which merited marseille a spot in the uefa champions league for the first time since the 2003 – 04 season . following the departure of franck ribéry to german club bayern munich ahead of the 2007 – 08 season , valbuena was inserted as his replacement . it is during this season the midfielder acquired the nickname le petit ( the small bike ) , which is a play on valbuena 's size and his parent club 's stadium , the stade vélodrome . valbuena started the season off healthy under gerets and featured primarily as a substitute , but by late august 2007 , had become a starter forming partnerships in the midfield with samir nasri , lorik cana , and benoît cheyrou . valbuena made his uefa champions league debut on 18 september 2007 against turkish club beşiktaş appearing as a substitute in a 2 – 0 win . in the team 's next group stage match against english club liverpool at anfield , valbuena scored the only goal in a 1 – 0 victory . the victory over liverpool was the first time a french club had ever won at anfield . later that month , valbuena signed a contract extension with marseille , committing himself to the club until june 2012 . in the league , valbuena appeared in 29 matches and scored three goals . the first two goals came in the club 's 6 – 1 win over caen on 26 january 2008 . the first goal valbuena scored in the match was voted the goal of the year by the ligue de football professionnel and was scored from almost 40 metres ( 44 yd ) out . on 9 march , valbuena , for the second straight season , scored the game - winning goal in a win over saint - étienne . due to his promising performances , marseille awarded him another contract extension in april 2008 , which added an extra year to his contract . in the 2008 – 09 season , valbuena became a regular starter and appeared in 31 league matches . he scored three goals ; two in victories over auxerre and le havre and one in a loss to paris saint - germain . after the season , gerets , an admirer of valbuena , was let go and didier deschamps was named as his replacement . in june 2009 , deschamps declared that valbuena was not in his tactical plans and sought to place the midfielder on the transfer market . club president pape diouf and several members of the board disagreed with deschamps sentiments stating that valbuena was " un - transferable " . the indecision over valbuena 's future resulted in the player being linked to english clubs aston villa , arsenal , and liverpool . valbuena 's future was ultimately settled following the closure of the transfer window when he wasn 't sold . as a result , he was relegated to the bench for the first half of the season under deschamps and the tumultuous relationship reached its zenith in december when the two had a face - to - face meeting , which resulted in valbuena declaring he wanted to leave the club in the january 2010 transfer window to find regular football . on 17 october , valbuena scored his first goal in his first league start of the season away to nancy . in february 2010 , valbuena returned to the starting lineup and remained a starter for the rest of the season . he was an important part of the team that won the league and league cup double . in the coupe de la ligue , valbuena scored the game - winning goal in the semi - finals against lille . in the final , he scored the second goal in a 3 – 1 victory over his former club bordeaux . the coupe de la ligue title was marseille 's first major honour since winning the uefa champions league in 1993 . in april 2010 , valbuena scored goals in three straight matches , all wins , against nice , boulogne - sur - mer , and saint - étienne . the victories helped marseille maintain its first - place position and valbuena was praised by deschamps . marseille ultimately won the league after defeating rennes on 5 may 2010 . 2010 – 2014 in the 2010 – 11 season , valbuena was inserted as a starter by deschamps for the start of the campaign despite the arrivals of wingers loïc rémy and andré ayew . valbuena was also hampered by the constant media inquiries about what happened at the 2010 fifa world cup , on which he has refused to comment , stating " i was a neophyte in the france team , i will not allow myself to discuss the events " and that he was " trying to forget " the incident . valbuena scored his first goal of the season on 12 september 2010 in a 2 – 2 draw with monaco . on 23 november , he scored the opening goal in the team 's 3 – 0 win over russian club fc spartak moscow in the champions league . the victory resulted in marseille qualifying for the knockout portion of the competition for the first time since 2000 . four days later , valbuena scored the third goal in the team 's 4 – 0 win over montpellier . on 22 january , valbuena suffered a medial ligament sprain in his left knee as a result of a tackle from ayew during a training session . he was , initially , ruled out for up to six weeks , but returned to training ahead of the team 's champions league match against english club manchester united on 22 february . valbuena made his return to the team in the second leg at old trafford appearing as a second - half substitute . marseille were defeated 2 – 1 away , which resulted in the club losing on aggregate by the same scoreline . after appearing as a substitute in two consecutive league matches after returning from injury , valbuena made his first start in a 2 – 1 win over le classique rivals paris saint - germain . on 23 april 2011 , he made his second consecutive start in the final of the coupe de la ligue . marseille won the match defeating montpellier 1 – 0 to claim its second straight league cup title . on 1 may , valbuena scored the team 's lone goal in its 1 – 1 draw with auxerre . he finished the campaign by appearing in the team 's final five matches as marseille finished runner - up to lille in the league . valbuena got off to a quick start in the team 's 2011 – 12 campaign . he opened the campaign by assisting on a loïc rémy goal in the opening match of the season against sochaux . the following week , he assisted on both goals in a 2 – 2 draw with auxerre . on 28 august , valbuena scored both of marseille 's goal in a 3 – 2 defeat away to lille . the following month , he manufactured another statistical output after assisting on both of rémy 's goals in a 2 – 0 win over evian . in the club 's champions league campaign , valbuena failed to chart statistically in the team 's first five group stage matches . on 6 december , in the team 's final group stage match against german club borussia dortmund , valbuena scored the match - winning goal after appearing as a substitute 14 minutes prior . the goal , described by uefa as " an unstoppable shot " , allowed marseille progression to the uefa champions league knockout phase . in the team 's final two december league matches prior to the winter break against lorient and nancy , valbuena scored a goal and assisted on another in each match ; marseille won both matches . he finished the fall season with nine assists , a tally that currently leads the league . following his departure to dynamo moscow , olympique de marseille honoured valbuena by retiring his number 28 shirt on 5 august 2014 . dynamo moscow on 2 august 2014 , valbuena signed a three - year contract with dynamo moscow in a reported £ 6 million transfer . in his second game for dynamo and first as a starter on 13 august 2014 against fc ufa , he assisted on both of his team 's goals in a 2 - 0 victory . in his next game against fc arsenal tula on 17 august 2014 , he again assisted on both goals in dynamo 's 2 - 1 victory . on 28 august 2014 , dynamo defeated ac omonia in the 2014 – 15 uefa europa league play - off round , through a decisive goal by christopher samba in the 93rd minute of the return leg following a free kick performed by valbuena , and qualified for the first time for the group stage of a european competition ( since the group stage was introduced ) . on 31 august 2014 , he scored his first goal for dynamo in a 2 - 0 victory over fc krasnodar . on 16 september 2014 , he had to undergo an emergency appendectomy . he returned to playing on 2 october 2014 in a europa league group game against psv eindhoven , in which yuri scored a winning goal deep into injury time after a corner delivered by valbuena . olympique lyonnais on 11 august 2015 , valbuena returned to ligue 1 , signing a three - year contract with former club marseille 's rivals lyon for a reported fee of € 5 million . international career valbuena did not receive any call - ups to any of the france national youth football teams . however , following his impressive performances with marseille , he was awarded a call up to the senior team by coach raymond domenech for the team 's matches against england and mali in march 2008 . however , he picked up an injury and was forced to miss out . valbuena 's next call - up was over two years later in may 2010 , when he was named to the 30 - man preliminary list by domenech to play in the 2010 fifa world cup . valbuena 's call up was considered surprising by the media and the player himself , despite valbuena playing well with his parent club who won the league and league cup double in the 2009 – 10 season . many journalists in the french media compared valbuena 's call - up to the team with franck ribéry 's call - up four years previously , as the two players share similarities in playing style and their circumstances at the time of their respective call - ups . valbuena was later named to the 23 - man team to compete in the competition . he made his national team debut on 26 may 2010 in a friendly match against costa rica appearing as a substitute in the second half . after 16 minutes on the field , valbuena scored the game - winning goal in the team 's 2 – 1 victory . at the world cup , valbuena made his debut in the competition in the team 's 2 – 0 loss to mexico appearing as a substitute on 17 june . it was his only appearance in the competition . during the competition , the players went on strike in protest over the expulsion of striker nicolas anelka from the team , which resulted in all 23 players on the team being suspended for its friendly match in august 2010 . after missing the match against norway due to new manager laurent blanc 's imposed suspension , valbuena made his return to the team in a 1 – 0 defeat to belarus in uefa euro 2012 qualification . the midfielder subsequently appeared in every match under blanc in 2010 , excluding the match against bosnia and herzegovina in september 2010 . valbuena capped his return to the national team by scoring against england in a friendly at wembley stadium on 17 november 2010 . valbuena was included in france 's uefa euro 2012 squad but did not make an appearance during the competition . under new coach didier deschamps , valbuena played in all ten of the team 's matches during 2014 fifa world cup qualification , scoring once against georgia . on 13 may 2014 , valbuena was named in france 's squad for the 2014 fifa world cup . he was named in the starting line - up for the team 's opening match against honduras , making his tournament debut . in the second group fixture , he scored in a 5 – 2 defeat of switzerland to help les bleus qualify for the knockout stage . style of play valbuena is described by his former coach at libourne saint - seurin didier tholot as " an explosive player who is capable of quickly taking two opponents out of the game to create space , above all due to his dribbling skills . " he has been deployed as a wide midfielder or winger since his arrival to the bordeaux training center in 2001 often playing on the right side of midfield in former bordeaux manager elie 's preferred 4 – 3 – 3 formation . after leaving bordeaux , valbuena was primarily deployed in the playmaker position as an attacking midfielder at langon castets and libourne saint - seurin . while at these clubs , he developed a penchant for attempting to do everything as stated by both his former club coaches tholot and jean - pierre , the latter being his manager at langon castets . while at the amateur clubs , valbuena also honed his quickness , technical ability , and developed his tenacious style of play which contributed to his positive work - rate defensively . once stated that " he had never worked with such a young person so technically brilliant " in his coaching career . valbuena 's former coach also described the player 's tenacious style stating " whatever the build of the opponent , he will always tackle " and " he also surprised me with the level of his defensive work when he is aligned on the right - hand side " . valbuena is also known for his small size and , while at langon , began using his diminutive stature to his advantage . during his first season at marseille , he earned the nickname le petit by his former manager eric gerets . gerets described the player as " extremely mobile " and a player who is " very quick at turning , from one side to the other " . career statistics club as of 25 may 2016 notes international as of 20 june 2014 international goals honours club marseille ligue 1 : 2009 – 10 coupe de la ligue : 2009 – 10 , 2010 – 11 , 2011 – 12 trophée des champions : 2010 , 2011 individual ligue 1 team of the year : 2007 - 08 , 2012 - 13 ligue 1 goal of the year : 2007 - 08 vs. caen