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William Gallas, (born August 17 1977 in Asnières-sur-Seine), is a French footballer who plays for Chelsea F.C. in the English Premier League. He wears the number 13 shirt and is a defender who prefers to play in the centre, but he can also play at full-back on either side of the pitch.
He was bought by Claudio Ranieri from Marseille in May 2001 for £6.2 million. Under Ranieri, Gallas developed centre back partnerships with Marcel Desailly and later with John Terry and also played at right-back sometimes. William has developed into a fantastic defender, and his partnership with John Terry at the centre of Chelsea's defence is one of the most formidable in the world, they once went an exceptional 16 games together without conceding a single goal. His main attributes are his ability to mark players and read the game, but his most prized asset is his pace, being able to keep up with the likes of Thierry Henry. This makes William the perfect partner for the more solid and hard tackling Terry but with ability like his, he would fit into any team with ease.
Because of the recent injury to Wayne Bridge, Gallas was forced to play out of position at left-back during the later part of the 2004/2005 season, something he grew frustrated at as he prefers to play in the centre of defence. Because of this he has been linked with clubs such as Arsenal and Barcelona but since José Mourinho's purchase of Asier Del Horno from Athletic Bilbao for £13 million, Gallas has retaken his role along side John Terry in the centre-back position.
In perhaps one of the most defining moments of Chelsea's 2005/2006 season, Gallas scored a stunning goal in injury time on 11th March, 2006, against Tottenham Hotspur to win Chelsea the game against their London rivals. With scores level at one goal each, Gallas pivoted around the defender, sidestepped around and launched a 30-yard screamer, while falling backwards, off his right boot, which sailed past goalkeeper Paul Robinson and into the net.
He also scored the first goal, in the 5th minute of play, against Manchester United in their Premiership clash which led to Chelsea winning 3-0 to win the title for the second consecutive season. It is rumoured that Gallas may be leaving Chelsea in the summer of 2006, originally it was thought that he would be used as part-exchange for Andriy Shevchenko although this failed to happen; certain hints such as Michael Ballack- who prefers Gallas' shirt number of 13- not having received a formal number leave gallas' future at Stamford Bridge very much in doubt.
International
Gallas is also a regular member of the French national team, making his full France debut in a 5-0 demolition of Slovenia in a Euro 2004 qualifier in October 2002. He then played for his country in that tournament's finals. He also played for France junior team in 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.
External links
- FootballDatabase profile and stats
- BBC profile
- Statistics at soccerbase.com
- Profile at 4thegame.com
| France squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup runners-up | ||
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| Chelsea F.C. – current squad | |
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