Julien Escudé

Julien Escudé

Escudé training with Beşiktaş in 2013
Personal information
Full name Julien Escudé
Date of birth (1979-08-17) 17 August 1979
Place of birth Chartres, France
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Centre back
Youth career
1994–1998 Cannes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1998–1999 Cannes 21 (1)
1999–2003 Rennes 111 (0)
2003–2006 Ajax 61 (6)
2006–2012 Sevilla 164 (5)
2012–2014 Beşiktaş 25 (2)
Total 382 (14)
National team
1999–2002 France U21 21 (1)
2006–2010 France 13 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Julien Escudé (born 17 August 1979) is a French retired footballer who played mainly as a central defender but also as a full back.[1]

After making a name for himself with Rennes, he went on to play abroad with Ajax and Sevilla, being an important part of the latter team as it won six major titles, including two UEFA Cups (he appeared in 237 official games for the club).

Club career

France / Ajax

Born in Chartres, Escudé began his professional career at AS Cannes, playing one season in the second division. On 26 July 1999, after some solid performances, the 20-year-old joined Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais FC, managed by young Paul Le Guen, where he gradually developed into a first division player, amassing nearly 150 official appearances.

In the 2003 summer Escudé signed with Dutch side AFC Ajax,[2] scoring six goals in his first two seasons combined for the Amsterdam Arena outfit and winning the Eredivisie title in his first year. In August 2005, after a defeat against Feyenoord, he fell out of favour with manager Danny Blind, and never played a match afterwards.[3]

Sevilla

In January 2006 Escudé signed for Sevilla FC in La Liga, for €1.5 million. His league debut came on 11 February as he played nine minutes in a 4–0 win at Andalusia neighbours Cádiz CF; in the following round, he played the entire 1–0 home success against Celta de Vigo.[4]

Escudé became an essential defensive unit in the following years for Sevilla, helping it conquer a total of five titles (he played in the 2005–06 final of the UEFA Cup, a 4–0 win against England's Middlesbrough). His importance grew after the long injury layoff which bothered the captain of the club Javi Navarro, but he would also be sidelined for a long part of the 2007–08 season with a groin problem[5]– the team finished fifth, missing on qualification to the UEFA Champions League.

International career

In March 2005, Escudé was called to the French national team for two qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Switzerland and Israel, but eventually did not make his debut. His first game was on 11 October 2006, playing as left back against Faroe Islands for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign – he was not picked for the final stage.

On 18 November 2009, in the 10th minute of the second leg of the 2010 World Cup qualification playoffs against the Republic of Ireland, Escudé broke his nose and had to be stretchered off.[6] He was also not selected for the squad of 23 which appeared in South Africa.

Personal life

Escudé's older brother, Nicolas, played tennis professionally, reaching the top 20 in 2000.[2] His father Paul was also a footballer, representing mainly Pau FC.

During his spell with Sevilla, Escudé played several matches with "SQD" on the back of his shirt, it being the phonetic spelling of his surname.[7]

Honours

Ajax
Sevilla

References

  1. ↑ "Julien Escudé". UEFA.com. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 Clubs reach agreement, Julien Escude signs four year Ajax contract; Ajax USA, 17 July 2003
  3. ↑ Ajax looking to future; Sky Sports
  4. ↑ Escude pleased at Sevilla start; Sky Sports
  5. ↑ Escude to miss Steaua return; Sky Sports, 29 October 2007
  6. ↑ Escude out for two weeks; Sky Sports, 19 November 2009
  7. ↑ "Kitman: Sevilla’s Julien Escude goes phonetic with his SQD shirt". Off The Post. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2015.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Tomáš Galásek		 Ajax captain
2005 		Succeeded by
Tomáš Galásek
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