Legends of club football: Franck Ribery

“Do you know it only took Germany three days to conquer France in WWII? And that’s because it was raining.” — John Xereas

The French have perennially been associated with good wine, better cheese and the best electro music the world has seen (if at this point the French musical duo of Daft Punk didn’t come to your mind, you need stop living under a rock). Their conquests on the battlefields, or should I say the lack of them, however, have perennially been the subject of many jokes, as seen above. Fast forward almost 70 years and the metaphorical tables have turned faster than Johan Cruyff used to; a single Frenchman has conquered not just Germany, but has done what Napoleon had envisioned yet failed to achieve: – conquering all of Europe. The battleground has now shifted to the soccer pitch, and the scar-faced champion of Europe is West Germany’s pride. Yes, it is none other than Franck Ribery.

Franck Ribery started his ‘soldier’s training’ from a very young age indeed. Playing for the youth division of the amateur club FC Conti de Boulogne-sur-Mer at the tender age of 6, Franck honed the skills that now dazzle not just the Munich faithful, but the rest of the world as well. His rough, working class family background also gave him the opportunity to do manual labor, which allowed him to become physically imposing enough to overcome the natural disadvantages that a footballer faces due to a short stature. Ribery’s humorous and vibrant nature, despite crippling poverty and social segregation due to the scars on his face, was evident everywhere on the pitch, as he would bound after the ball and dazzle the same kids who shunned him for his scars with swift moves, unstoppable dribbles and a penchant for humiliating goalkeepers, all while grinning from ear to ear.

Ribery flitted between a host of French clubs in his youth, and was unable to break into the ‘big league’ due to frequent transfers and injuries. He was soon loaned out to the Turkish club Galatasaray, who decided to buy his services from Metz subsequently. A series of solid performances attracted the French giants Marseille, who were willing to pay for the services of Franck Ribery. Galatasaray, on the other hand, were not as generous financially, but still demanded him to play, even going to the extent of [allegedly] threatening him with a baseball bat. Ribery sealed the Marseille deal, after having invalidated his Galatasaray contract by appealing to FIFA.

His time in Marseille and his performances at the 2006 FIFA World Cup had already turned a lot of metaphorical heads. He had been hailed as the ‘Jewel of French football’ by his mentor Zinedine Zidane, had ended Thierry Henry‘s 4 year run as the French Footballer of the year, and all the ‘elite’ clubs, including Inter Milan, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Lyon were willing to hand a whopping 30 million euro cheque to Marseille to have Ribery on their side. Ribery ultimately decided that a 25 million euro move to the Bavarian behemoths, Bayern Munich, was the most suitable for him. In hindsight, I couldn’t agree more.

Ribery’s arrival at Bayern Munich was at a time when the club was starkly different from it’s modern counterpart. Gone were the times when it had established utter dominance over Europe for three years on the trot, and the continental treble that Bayern Munich won last year was still some time and tears away. Ribery’s inaugural year at Bayern Munich was only year Bayern had to participate in the Europa league in the entire decade. Their previous year, which had seen them slump to a 4th place finish in the Bundesliga, had been enough to fire them up and break bank to bring in talented players. Ribery, along with star signings such as Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose, set about to bring Bayern back to their glory days. And the Frenchman took only 1 season to conquer Germany. Bayern Munich reclaimed the Bundesliga and the DFB- Pokal in style, and Ribery was rightfully nominated as the German footballer of the year.

Ribery grew ‘battle weary’ after these conquests, and was frequently sidelined with multiple injuries throughout his subsequent seasons. But whenever he was on the pitch, he reminded everyone exactly why he was still at Bayern: he could win games. Ribery could score goals, assist the forwards, whip in a deadly cross, humiliate defenders, defend when required, to cut the long story short, he was (and continues to be) Bayern’s omnipotent all-rounder. He could dribble past any defender on his good day, and yet his famed link ups with David Alaba and Arjen Robben are stuff of legends. Ribery is as direct and no- nonsense a player could be, and he plays football the way it is meant to be, on pure, raw instinct. You place him anywhere in the Bavarian machine, and he would still steam-roller past any team having the misfortune of playing against the behemoth that Bayern is- no- the behemoth that Ribery has made them.

Bayern Munich had never been shy of legendary Frenchman, but none of them were nearly as legendary as Franck Ribery. The Munich faithful could see marked similarities between the Bayern of 2000 and 2013, both of whom had established supremacy on Europe. However, the team of 2000 had literally no answer to the French maestro. They had Kahn, a goalkeeper very similar to Neuer in style, Effenberg, the midfield maestro who could distribute the ball and launch attacks in a very Schweinsteiger- esque manner, and Scholl, the same explosive winger that Robben is now. But they had no one nearly as talented and mercurial as Franck Ribery. And perhaps that is the reason why the 2013 team broke all records in the Bundesliga and dismantled Barcelona with a 7-0 aggregate, while the team of 2000 had won both competitions by the skin of their teeth.

Bayern hat wieder einen konig= Bavaria has a new King.. Indeed!

For Ribery and Bayern, the European championship had just barely eluded them on two occasions, but everyone knew that on a good day, they had the quality and class to go all the way. Their first outing to the finals was an announcement to the world about the comeback they had made. It was quite the comeback indeed, going from the semi finals of the Europa league to the finals of the champions league in just 2 seasons. But Jose’s Inter weren’t going to be denied bragging rights on that night, and they beat Bayern Munich convincingly to stake their claims of European domination.

Bayern’s second outing was the more tragic of the two, since everyone had been expecting Bayern Munich to win the crown on the second occasion. Chelsea had a defense that was as porous as polythene, and they managed to resist Bayern’s fierce onslaught just enough to take the game to the penalty shootouts. Ribery had to be subbed off due to yet another injury, and it was perhaps Muller’s and his absence in the shootouts that allowed Chelsea to win a cup that most would assume, rightfully belonged in the Allianz Arena.

Their loss at the hands of Chelsea had completed their treble of coming second. Neither Bayern nor Ribery could swallow this bitter pill, and they set about to amend their errors. Bayern became hungrier in their pursuit of the crown, and Ribery’s skills became far more feral. He would play as if he were a wounded animal, as if he had to win even if it cost his life. Yet, when he would take his shirt off after a game, the smile on his face said that he played primarily to enjoy, and a win for Bayern was a secondary target.

Ribéry Ribéry Ribéry HEY!He’s the best aroundRibéry Ribéry Ribéry HEY!The King of BAYERN TOWN!Ribéry Ribéry Ribéry HEY!There’s Only OneMr. FRANCK RIBÉRY RIBÉRY HEY!!!!Ribéry Ribéry Ribéry HEY!He’s the best aroundRibéry Ribéry Ribéry HEY!The King of BAYERN TOWN!Ribéry Ribéry Ribéry HEY!There’s Only One

Ribery had come a long way to be the man in the spotlight at the Allianz Arena, and the pure ecstasy etched on his face would show exactly how much he relished it all. The crowd would write songs that were glowing tributes to his skill and contribution to Bayern Munich, and he would continue displaying tenacity like no other player. Despite being one of the most frequently injured players, Ribery would still play his heart out on the pitch week after week, to give Bayern his gratitude for letting him play the game he so loves.

The third Champions League finals Ribery would participate in finally broke the jinx. There were romantics who wanted Dortmund to win against all odds, but most football lovers wanted Bayern to finally win the Champions league, and most of this crowd wanted Ribery to be the one delivering the trophy to Munich. They had come a long way, knocking out Juventus, beating Arsenal, and clobbering Barcelona. Their campaign for this season had started the day they signed Ribery, and Ribery had set his sights on the UEFA player of the year award the day he went professional. This match made in heaven proved to be too strong for Borussia Dortmund to deal with, and Bayern finally won the UEFA Cup. Ribery finally lifted the silver chalice he had only seen and dreamt of touching from a distance. And UEFA finally became fair enough to award the honor of being the best player in Europe to someone more deserving than Lionel Messi. The Frenchman had conquered Europe.

While Ribery is currently the best player in Europe for his club, he still has some room for improvement for his national team. The French national team, however, seems to have come back from their slump in 2010, and Ribery, being one of the most experienced players on the team, has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders to mentor the younger generation and lead the team into games. The French national team might be rebuilding themselves, but it wouldn’t be prudent on our part to say that international honors will not go to the French in the foreseeable future. After all, Ribery has already proved to all of us what he alone can do to a team.

Ribery has come a long way since he was signed for Bayern. From a player who would be injured and sidelined every second game, to a player without whom the Bayern Munich of now is unimaginable. Ribery might be Muslim, French, a teetotaler, and a pedophile (he was in hot water for allegedly having intercourse with an underage prostitute), but he is a typical Bavarian player in every sense of the word; efficient, tenacious, aggressive, skillful and one with a never-say-die attitude. Franck Ribery represents the one value has come to expect from Bayern Munich: absolute ruthless efficiency.

Bayern Munich without Ribery is unimaginable, but a Ribery out of Bayern Munich is equally weird to picture. Both of them complement each other like no player has complemented a club since Lionel Messi did to Barcelona. And we all saw what how both of these behemoths face-off against each other. Different clubs had won the Champions league, and there were many players such as Ronaldo and Sneijder who could be considered better than Messi on their day, but only Barcelona and Messi could claim to be the best in Europe. All that changed after Ribery and Bayern showed Europe and indeed, the rest of the world, exactly what they can do. They conquered Europe to establish a new era of footballing excellence, knocked Barcelona and Messi “off their f*cking perch”, and yes, you can print that!

Ribery will continue to be Bayern’s best for quite some time to come, and you can see why he is the best right here.