On this site I'll include everything I know about my favorite player, Eric Cantona. I'll tell you why he is the greatest soccer player, next to Kyle Kovacs of course, to ever lace up his cleats and step onto the pitch.

Éric Daniel Pierre Cantona (born 24 May 1966 in Paris raised in Marseille) is a French former footballer of the late 1980s and 1990s. He ended his professional footballing career at Manchester United where he won four Premiership titles in five years, including two League and FA Cup "doubles". Cantona is often regarded as having played a major talismanic role in the revival of Manchester United as a footballing powerhouse and he enjoys iconic status at the club. In 2001 he was voted their player of the century, and to this day United fans refer to him as "King Eric". He once said "I am God" and the fans called him Le God. When asked whether Zinédine Zidane or Michel Platini was the greatest-ever French footballer he replied "No it is me." He ego was only slightly less than his skill and leadership. Cantona was an electric and very often controversial player, but is regarded as one of the best ever. Today, in retirement, he is most famous for his coaching, film career, and Joga Bonito wisdom.

Career Stats

Full name Éric Daniel Pierre Cantona[1]



Date of birth May 24, 1966 (1966-05-24)



Place of birth Marseille, France



Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)



Playing position Forward



Clubs:



Auxerre 1981-1988 81 Appearances 23 Goals



Martigues(on loan)1985-1986 15 Appearances 4 Goals



Marseille 1988-1989 22 Appearances 5 goals



Bordeaux (on loan) 1989 11 Appearances 6 Goals



Montpellier (on loan) 1989-1990 33 Appearances 10 Goals



Marseille 1990-1991 18 Appearances 8 Goals



Nîmes 1991 16 Appearances 2 Goals



Leeds United 1992 28 Appearances 9 Goals



Manchester United 1992-1997 143 Appearances 84 Goals

Joga Bonito!

Eric Cantona: Guru of Fair Play

Joga Bonito!

Joga Bonito!

Without heart you cannot play!

Joga Bonito,which means 'Play Beautiful' in Portuguese, is a football-oriented social network service created by Nike and Google. Joga TV commercial advertisements are shown on the nikefootball.com website, and the joga.com website.Éric Cantona appears as the lead spokesman for the Joga Bonito organization. Joga TV is portrayed as an underground broadcast channel that taps into other television stations' live feeds, filmed "live from the heart of Germany". The Joga Bonito movement portrays itself as dedicated to eliminating unfair and unsportsmanlike play from football, promoting fair and creative play as well as honesty and team spirit, and showing the true and beautiful side of football by having a motto of "play from the heart". It has featured famous footballers like Ronaldinho, Eduardo Contreras, Fabio Cannavaro, Ronaldo, Adriano, Robinho, Mark Bresciano, Robbie Keane, Cesc Fàbregas, Wayne Rooney, Tim Howard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic;, Shinji Ono, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Carlos Tévez, Hidetoshi Nakata, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joe Cole, Michael Essien, and America's own superstar Kyle Kovacs. Joga Bonito has evolved and become more than just a commercial scheme. Today its recommended tactics are used by professional coaches worldwide, and many ardent soccer fans follow it feverently as a religion.

Eric Cantona : The Greatest of All Time

Eric was a master at winning and controlling the ball

In January 1992 Cantona came to England for a trial with Sheffield Wednesday, managed by Trevor Francis. When offered an extension to the trial, he found this insulting and subsequently joined Leeds United A.F.C., where he was an important part of the team that won the final old First Division championship in 1991-92. He was also inspirational in the Charity Shield 4-3 win over Liverpool in 1992, scoring a hat-trick.

He however left Leeds before the end of the 1992-93 season, which saw them finishing 17th out of 22 in the newly formed Premier League, moving to Manchester United in November 1992 for the relatively small fee of £1.2 million, much to the disgust of the Leeds fans, although Howard Wilkinson, the Leeds United manager, was eager for him to leave.

Cantona: The Father of Beach Soccer

Eric gave beach soccer competitions legitimacy

n the following season Cantona became infamous for an incident that occurred on 25 January 1995. In an away match against Crystal Palace, after being sent off by the referee for a vengeful kick on Palace defender Richard Shaw (after Shaw had pulled his shirt), he launched a 'kung-fu' style kick against a Crystal Palace fan, Matthew Simmons. Simmons was later tried for threatening language and behavior, and attacked the prosecution counsel after being found guilty, leaping over a bench and executing a flying kick of his own. He was sentenced to seven days in jail, but only served 24 hours of his sentence. At a press conference called later, Cantona gave what is perhaps his most famous quotation. As the journalists gathered to hear him speak, Cantona entered the room, sat down and said, in a slow and deliberate manner:

"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown in to the sea"

He then got up from his seat and left, leaving many of the assembled crowd bemused. He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after an appeal court overturned a 2 week prison sentence for assault. He was also suspended by The Football Association until the following October. Manchester United eventually lost the Premiership title to Blackburn.

Cabntona the Champion

Beloved by one and all

Cantona galvanised the United team to greater success with the likes of Ryan Giggs and youngsters David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville emerging under his influence. As United retained the league in the 1996-97 season, Cantona had won four league titles in five years with United(six in seven years including those won with Marseille and Leeds United), the exception being the 1995 season which he had largely missed through suspension. At the end of an admittedly lacklustre season by his standards, which was fuelled by United's elimination at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, he announced that he was retiring from football at the age of 30 which came as a surprise, and was met with great dismay by United fans. His final competitive game came against West Ham on 11th May 1997, and his final appearance before retiring was five days later on Friday 16th May in a testimonial for David Busst against Coventry City at Highfield Road, in which Eric scored twice in a 2-2 draw.

In 2004 Cantona was quoted as saying "I'm so proud the fans still sing my name, but I fear tomorrow they will stop. I fear it because I love it. And everything you love, you fear you will lose."

In 2006 The Sun newspaper reported Cantona as saying that Manchester United had lost their soul and that the current players were a bunch of sheep. The Old Trafford idol reckoned the days of maverick entertainers like himself and George Best were gone and feared the Red Devils were betraying their past by putting out boring, functional teams. However on the Contrary he was interviewed in the Number 7's issue of 'United Magazine' in August 2006 stating he will only come back to Manchester United as 'Number 1' (meaning not return as assistant manager or coach) and would create a team like no other and play the way he thinks football should be played.

Cantona opposed the Malcolm Glazer takeover of Manchester United, and has stated that he will not return to the club, even as a manager, while the Glazer family is in charge. This will come as a disappointment to the many United fans who voted him as their choice for United's next manager in survey over the summer of 2000.

World Champions of the Beach!

Cantona leads France to Victory!

Our Hero

Cantona captivates whether it is on the field, on the big screen, or in best selling books!

Eric Cantona

My Favorite Player

The information used in this biography comes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_cantona. It all comes from officially documented sources.

Eric Cantona: King of Old Tafford

Eric is a legend on and off the soccer pitch!

Cantona's first club was Auxerre, where he spent two years in the youth team before making his debut in 1983.

The whole of 1984 saw Cantona's footballing career put on hold as he carried out his national service. After discharge he was loaned out to Martigues in the French Second Division. Rejoining Auxerre and signing a professional contract in 1986, his performances in the First Division were good enough to earn him his first full international cap.

He was part of the French under-21 side that won the 1988 U21 European Championship and shortly after that success, he transferred to Marseille, the club he supported as a boy, for a French record fee. Cantona had quite often shown signs of being 'short tempered' in his career to date, and in January 1989 during a friendly game against Torpedo Moscow he ripped off and threw away his jersey after being substituted. His club responded by banning him for a month. Just a few months earlier, he had been banned from international matches for insulting the national coach on TV.

Cantona And The Big Screen

Apparently his magic extends off the field as well

Le God!

He had heart and flair!

Thanks for the Memories

Eric always remenbered his supporters

Having struggled to settle at Marseille, Cantona moved to Bordeaux on a six-month loan and then to Montpellier on a year-long loan. Cantona was instrumental as the team went on to win the French Cup. His form persuaded Marseille to take him back. Back at Marseille, Cantona initially played well under the new coach Franz Beckenbauer. However, the Marseille chairman Bernard Tapie was not satisfied with the results, and replaced Beckenbauer with Raymond Goethals with whom Cantona did not see eye-to-eye. Cantona was also continually at odds with Tapie and despite helping the team win the French Division 1 title, he was transferred to Nîmes the following season. In December 1991, during a match for Nîmes he threw the ball at the referee, having been angered by one of his decisions. He was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by the French Football Federation and was banned for one month. Cantona responded by walking up to each member of the hearing committee in turn and calling him an "idiot". His ban was increased to 3 months. For Cantona this was the last straw and he announced his retirement from football in December 1991.

The French national team coach Michel Platini was a keen fan of Cantona, and persuaded him to make a comeback. On the advice of Gérard Houllier, he moved to England to restart his career.

Simply the Best

Cantona has a special way with words

Cantona's first appearance for Manchester United was against Benfica in Lisbon, in a friendly match to mark the 50th birthday of Eusebio. He made his competitive debut as a second half substitute against Manchester City at Old Trafford, on December 6th, 1992. United won 2-1, though Cantona made little impact that day.

United's season had been disappointing up to Cantona's signing. They had had problems scoring goals: Brian McClair and Mark Hughes were off form, and summer signing Dion Dublin had broken his leg early in the season. However, Cantona quickly settled into the team, not only scoring many goals but also creating chances for the other players. His first United goal came in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on December 19th 1992. It was against Tottenham Hotspur on January 9th 1993, that Cantona really showed his class, scoring one and having a hand in the other goals in a 4-1 victory. For the next two years, United went on an amazing run, winning the inaugural Premiership in 1993. By winning that title, Cantona became the only player ever to win back-to-back titles with different clubs.

They retained the Premiership and with Cantona's two penalties helping them to a 4-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. Cantona was voted PFA Player Of The Year in 1994. However, he already had a serious disciplinary problem, being sent off a record 4 times in the Premier league season.

Cantona: United's Leader

Eric was a great leader byt wasn't known for his calm and level attitude.

There had been much speculation that Cantona would leave English football when his ban finished, but Alex Ferguson persuaded him to stay in Manchester and Cantona was once again inspirational. United had sold several key players at the start of the season and replaced them with players from the club's youth team and their prospects of winning the league were not looking good. Much hype surrounded Cantona's return game, against Liverpool on 1 October 1995. In the match, Cantona set up a goal for Nicky Butt inside 2 minutes, and then scored a penalty after Ryan Giggs had been upended. Eight months without competitive football had inevitably taken its toll and Cantona struggled for form prior to Christmas. Things then changed, however, with his goals helping United to recapture the league having been twelve points behind Newcastle United in January 1996. There was a spate of important 1-0 wins for United, with Cantona the goal scorer, but a 0-3 victory against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium decided the title. Fittingly, it was the same 1-0 scoreline, and the same scorer, in that year's FA Cup Final against Liverpool, with Cantona becoming the first foreign player to lift the FA Cup as captain. The strike of that match happened with 5 minutes remaining and was perhaps Eric Cantona's most famous goal of his career. A corner from the left side troubled Liverpool keeper David James who attempted to fist the ball out of the box. Instead, the ball was deflected down the middle to the top of the box. Cantona, who had backed away when the corner was sent, lined up and took an extremely athletic twisting volley with his right foot firing the ball through a sea of defenders into the net. The game was won. His redemption was complete after the scandals and lows of a year earlier. Cantona gave a post-match interview saying: "You know that's life. Up and down." Manchester United became the first team to win "the double" twice.

Prolific Goal Scorer

Cantona was not only a great scorer but an exciting one too

Cantona's career after retirement has mostly been in the French cinema, primarily as an actor although he has also directed a short film Apporte-moi ton amour in 2002; outside of France, he had a role as the French ambassador in the movie Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett in 1998. See filmography below.



Since retiring from professional football Cantona has appeared in numerous European television advertisements, especially for Nike. Cantona made cameos in two memorable commercials, one starring the Brazilian national team playing football in an airport, and another involving the national teams of both Brazil and Portugal. In a worldwide advertising campaign during the run-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he starred as the organiser of "underground" games (branded by Nike as "Scorpion KO") between football players like Thierry Henry, Hidetoshi Nakata, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Luís Figo. In an earlier UK Nike commercial, he appeared playing "amateur" football on Hackney Marshes with other stars including Ian Wright, Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler. In a Nike campaign in the advance of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, nearly ten years after his retirement, Cantona appears as the lead spokesman for the "Joga Bonito" organization, an association attempting to eliminate acting and fake play from football. He also starred in an Irish EuroMillions advertisement. He has gained a considerable amount of weight since retiring from professional football, rendering him almost unrecognizable from his playing days.



Shortly after his departure from Manchester United, Cantona became captain of the French National Beach Football team. Cantona has continued his interest in beach soccer games in southern Asia and at the Inaugural Kronenbourg beach soccer in 2002, in the city of Brighton. He managed the French Team which won the inaugural FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro. He also coached the 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup French National Team, which finished in third place.



In 1998, the Football League, as part of its centenary season celebrations, included Cantona on its list of 100 League Legends.



Cantona's achievements in the English League were further marked in 2002 when he was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame.



Cantona was married to Isabelle Ferrer, they have two children. He is now married to actress Rachida Brakni. He has two other close relations that play professional football: his brother Joël Cantona played for Olympique de Marseille, Újpesti TE and Stockport County (and is also now an actor), whilst his nephew Sacha Opinel currently plays for Ebbsfleet United F.C.