Romain Danzé

Romain Danzé (born 3 July 1986) is a French former professional footballer who spent his entire career with Ligue 1 club Rennes.

He played as a right-back, but could also play as a midfielder or left-back.

Danzé spent his entire career at with Stade Rennais in Ligue 1 and made 377 appearances and scoring ten times in all competitions.

Following his retirement, he announced his intention to earn his coaching badges.

Born in Douarnenez, France, Danzé grew up in Pouldergat and began his football career when he joined Gourlizon Sports at six years old in October 1992 and his father, Jean-Yves, was working.

Danzé quickly excelled at Gourlizon Sports that his performance attracted interests from Rennes, Auxerre, AS Monaco and FC Nantes.

Ultimately, he joined Stella Maris Douarnenez at age thirteen.

Danzé also trained at PEF Ploufragan, a regional academy located in the Brittany region that trained players similarly to the Clairefontaine academy in the Île-de-France.

However, his football career was threatened when he was diagnosed with Osgood–Schlatter disease.

But Danzé managed to overcome from his injury.

Danzé arrived at the Rennes Academy in 2001 after they invited to a trial and impressed the side.

Although he played as a defender, Danzé began to play in the midfield position.

At one point, Danzé was the captain for the reserve side.

He initially was a regular fixture for the Rennes reserves playing in the CFA team, but was later plagued with injuries.

Despite this, Danzé signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2006.

Danzé was involved in the club's first team throughout the summer of 2006 pre–season friendly.

It wasn't until on 24 October 2006 when he made his Stade Rennais debut, starting a match and played 80 minutes before being substituted, as they won 2–0 against Lille OSC in the Round of 16 of the Coupe de la Ligue.

Danzé made his Ligue 1 debut on 4 November 2006, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 win against champions Olympique Lyonnais.

A month later, in Rennes' final league match on 23 December 2006, he made his first Ligue 1 start for the club in a 0–0 draw with local rivals Lorient.

Following this, Danzé received a handful of first team football for the side, playing in the right–back position.

At the end of the 2006–07 season, he made twenty–one appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

He then scored his first goal for the club, in a 1–0 win against Valenciennes on 27 January 2007.

After the match, Manager Pierre Dréossi said: "As for Romain Danzé, he is an efficient player who puts in a lot of effort and knows how to seize his chance."

For his performance, it was announced on 2 April 2007 that Danzé signed a three–year contract with the club, with an option of extension.

However, during the club's pre–season, Danzé ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee that kept him out at the start of the 2007–08 season.

It wasn't until on 11 August 2007 when he made his first appearance of the season, starting the whole game in the right–back position, in a 0–0 draw against Marseille.

But Danzé continued to recover from his anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee for the rest of the year.

At the end of the 2007–08 season, Danzé made eleven appearances in all competitions.

It wasn't until on 26 January 2008 when he returned to the first team, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 1–1 draw against FC Metz.

Danzé spent the next two months on the substitute bench since returning from injury.

But he later regained his first team place, playing in the right–back position for the remaining matches of the season.

Ahead of the 2008–09 season, Danzé was linked a move away from Stade Rennais, with a possible loan move, but stayed at the club.

Danzé played in both legs of the UEFA Intertoto Cup third round against Tavriya Simferopol and helped the side progressing to the next round after they won 10–9 on penalty shoot–out and were among several players to successfully converted in the shoot–out.

At the start of the season, Danzé began to rotate in different positions, playing in either the right–back position and right–midfield position.

Danzé then played in both legs of the UEFA Cup, as the club were eliminated on a 2–2 draw on aggregate, resulting in their elimination through away goal.

It wasn't until on 4 March 2009 when he scored his first goal of the season and set up the club's third goal of the game, in a 3–0 win against FC Lorient in the Round of 16 of Coupe de France.

Danzé then scored his second goal of the season, in a 1–0 win against Saint-Étienne on 11 April 2009.

His third goal of the season came on 29 April 2009, in a 3–2 loss against Bordeaux.

A week later on 9 May 2009, he started and played 79 minutes in the final of Coupe de France, as the club lost 2–1 against Guingamp.

His performance at the club led to him signing a contract extension, keeping him until 2012.