Mathieu Valbuena

Mathieu Valbuena (: born 28 September 1984) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cypriot First Division club Apollon Limassol.

He occasionally plays as 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 vélo, which translates to "the little bike".

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 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".

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 Menot, playing in 20 league matches and scoring two goals.

Menot was fired mid-season and was replaced by Didier Tholot.

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.

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 Gazélec 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.

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.

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.

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.