Colourful and controversial, Fabien Barthez has always been a bit different.

The Olympique Marseille and France [Images] goalkeeper, who was banned for six months including three suspended on Friday for spitting at a referee (during a friendly match between Wydad Casablanca and Marseille in February in Casablanca), likes to do it his own way.

He was born 33 years ago in Lavelanet, a small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees and the heartland of French rugby.

His father Alain was a respected flyhalf who even won a cap for France but young Fabien preferred football and began his pro career in 1990 at Toulouse.

Two years later he joined Olympique Marseille, then the measure of all things in French football.

His first season there proved unforgettable, Marseille winning their fifth consecutive league title and becoming the first French club to lift the European Cup with a 1-0 victory over AC Milan in the 1993 final.

However, Marseille were subsequently stripped of their French title because of a match-rigging scandal and not allowed to defend the European title. They were then relegated at the end of the following season because of financial irregularities.

After helping Marseille win promotion back to the top flight, Barthez moved along the French Riviera to Monaco in 1995.

He spent five years with the team from the glitzy principality, winning the league title in 1997 and 2000.

It was during that spell that he experienced the absolute highlight of his career, helping France to their first World Cup triumph in 1998.

SHAVEN HEAD

Barthez will remain as one of the symbols for the home nation's success, not only because of his string of great saves throughout the campaign but also for the ritual good-luck kiss he received on his shaven head before kickoff from defender Laurent Blanc.

France went on to become European champions in 2000 but Barthez's career at club level became turbulent.

It was that year that he moved to Manchester United [Images] after falling out with Monaco coach Claude Puel, who accused him of throwing a match his team lost to Marseille.

During his four-year spell at Old Trafford, he was often brilliant but made more and more embarrassing blunders and after he lost his number one status there he decided in 2004 to return to the team closest to his heart, Marseille.

A man of few words, delivered with a distinctive southern French accent, Barthez became increasingly disillusioned with his sport to the extent that he said last month he would retire next year.

"I like the world of soccer less and less," he said then. "It's getting rotten. I don't have a precise example...sometimes you're better keeping your mouth shut."

A simple man lost in a glamorous world to his fans and a somewhat arrogant entertainer to his detractors, Barthez, who made many unwanted headlines for his relationship, now over, with top model Linda Evangelista [Images], sometimes illustrated the dark side of soccer.

He did just that in February when he spat at a Moroccan referee during a game between Wydad Casablanca and Marseille that was supposed to be a friendly.

He never really apologised.

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