LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - Patrick Vieira, who announced his retirement as a player on Bastille Day on Thursday, provided what can best be described as muscular elegance for France and Arsenal during his heyday as one of the world’s most effective midfielders.
Powerfully built, and standing 6ft 4 inches (1.93 metres) tall, he was deceptively quick and had an immensely strong physical presence that enabled him to dominate midfield battles.
He was not always quick enough to keep clear of trouble, though, as his career haul of 12 red cards—10 of them in nine years at Arsenal—testify, but Vieira will be remembered as one of the all-time greats for club and country.
His compatriot Arsene Wenger, who told Arsenal he should sign the youngster before joining the club himself as manager in 1996, knew he had secured an uncut diamond who might not have shone in his brief spell at AC Milan but would do so in the team Wenger envisaged for the north London side.
Even when Vieira was 34, nearly five years after leaving Arsenal for Italy where he played for Juventus and Inter Milan, Wenger toyed with the idea of bringing him back as a stop-gap reinforcement at the club where he had spent his glory years.
“He was a massive success with Arsenal,” Wenger said at the time. “He is a legend here and will always remain so.
“He had everything, the first time I ever saw him play as a teenager I knew he was something special. Tall, with quick feet, he had everything. He never hid from anything and the more (responsibility) you gave him the stronger he became.”
Wenger did not in the end re-sign his old captain who instead played out the twilight of his career at Manchester City where his influence, if not his old battling qualities, helped the club enjoy long overdue success.
The last appearance of his 18-year professional career—a brief cameo as a late substitute—came as City beat Stoke 1-0 in the FA Cup final in May to win their first trophy since 1976.
Vieira will not be gracing the Champions League when City make their debut next season, but over the last 18 months he has played a supporting role in helping them get there.
“Yes, it’s the end of my career. It’s a sad day, a sad moment, but overall I really enjoyed these last few years playing football,” he said in a video interview on City’s website (www,mcfc.co.uk).
“Football brought me a lot of happiness. I won trophies, I lost trophies, and I think it will be difficult for me to find another job that will give me the satisfaction that football gave me. But I just want to give back to football what has been given to me.”
His experience will now be focused on developing City’s youngsters and helping the club’s off-field activities.
WORLD CUP
Born in Dakar, Senegal, Vieira was eligible to play for France through his grandfather and made 107 appearances.
He became the fifth most-capped Frenchman behind Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry, Marcel Desailly and Zinedine Zidane, all contemporaries who helped France win the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship two years later.
He played for the last 15 minutes of the World Cup final against Brazil, providing the pass for Emmanuel Petit’s third goal in the 3-0 demolition of the reigning world champions at the Stade de France.
Vieira, along with Petit, Robert Pires and Henry from that France squad, all played for Wenger at Arsenal and, although Petit had left by 2003, Vieira, Pires and Henry were key components of the team that went through the 2003-04 Premier League season unbeaten to earn the nickname “The Invincibles”.
Arsenal finished 11 points clear of Chelsea and 15 points ahead of their nemesis Manchester United, whose battles with the Londoners at the time were typified by the intense physical duels between Vieira and United’s midfield where Roy Keane provided Irish muscle against Vieira’s gallic steel.
The clubs’ titanic duels were encapsulated in their clash at Old Trafford in September 2003 when Vieira was sent off after 81 minutes of a fiercely contested and bad tempered game.
Vieira was in the dressing room as the game ended in a fracas after United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy missed a late penalty, allowing Arsenal to escape with a 0-0 draw, one of only 12 drawn matches in their unbeaten season.
At his best, though, Vieira was strong in the tackle with a deft touch and wonderful passing ability, as well as the drive to get forward and score some outstanding goals. He was the bedrock of Arsenal’s success throughout his years at the club.
After leaving north London in 2005, first for Juventus and then Inter, honours continued to come his way, even if he began to count the cost of the physical game he played.
Injuries eventually curtailed his influence but, when he was fit and on form, few players ever got the better of him.
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