Stéphane Sparagna

Stéphane Sparagna

Sparagna with France U20 at the Toulon Tournament
Personal information
Full name Stéphane Sparagna
Date of birth (1995-02-17) 17 February 1995
Place of birth Marseille, France[1]
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position Defender, Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Marseille
Number 15
Youth career
2002–2014 Marseille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2014– Marseille 12 (0)
National team
2014–15 France U20 8 (2)
2015– France U21 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:57, 20 December 2015 (GMT).

† Appearances (goals)

Stéphane Sparagna (born 17 February 1995) is a French footballer who predominantly plays as a defender for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the France U21 national football team. He is an academy graduate of Marseille and made his senior debut for the club in August 2014, aged 19. The following year he captained the France U20 team to glory in the Toulon Tournament.

Club career

Marseille

2014-15 season

Having joined Marseille's academy at the age of seven, Stéphane Sparagna spent his formative years developing his game at La Commanderie. He was handed his Ligue 1 debut by manager Marcelo Bielsa on the opening day of the 2014-15 season in a 3-3 draw with Bastia.[2] Sparagna started the match but was substituted at half-time for Lucas Mendes with Marseille leading 2-1.[3] He went on to make three further appearances for the senior side during the campaign, amassing a total of 73 minutes of playing time.[4] At the end of the season Sparagna signed his first professional contract with Marseille,[5] ending months of speculation linking him with a Bosman move to Premier League club Arsenal.[6]

2015-16 season

Sparagna featured prominently during the pre-season and started in Marseille's 2-0 win over Juventus in the annual Robert Louis-Dreyfus Trophy.[7] He made his first competitive appearance of the 2015-16 campaign in an opening day defeat to Caen. He was booked in the 82nd minute of the match for a foul on Herve Bazile.[8] On 17 September 2015 Sparagna made his Europa League debut in a 3-0 win over Eredivisie side Groningen.[9] Exactly three months later he made his Coupe de la Ligue debut in a 3-2 win over Ligue 2 side Bourg-en-Bresse. During the match Sparagna was booked and gave away two penalties, both of which were converted by Lakdar Boussaha.[10] Sparagna started the new year by making his Coupe de France debut on 3 January 2016, coming on as a late substitute for the injured Paolo De Ceglie in a penalty shoot-out win over Caen.[11]

Sparagna missed much of the second half of the season as a result of him suffering from glue ear, a condition which traps liquid behind the eardrum and affects hearing. Marseille manager Míchel confirmed that Sparagna had been suffering from the condition since the start of the season and had unsuccessfully undergone treatment in late 2015. In April the following year he began a new cortisone treatment but was unable to return to the pitch for fear that he would fall short of doping regulations as a result of the medication.[12]

International career

French national youth teams

On 7 June 2015 Sparagna captained the France U20 squad to victory in the 2015 edition of the annual Toulon Tournament, scoring the winning goal from a Romain Habran corner in the final against Morocco.[13] In doing so, he led France to their first victory in the tournament since 2008.[14] Prior to scoring in the final, Sparagna had also netted from a free-kick in a 3-1 win over the USA in the tournament's opening game.[15] Following his success at U20 level, he was awarded his debut for France U21 on 15 November 2015 but was sent off for two bookable offences in a 2-2 draw with Macedonia.[16]

Style of play

Sparagna has been described as an athletic and combative centre-back, with his uncompromising approach to tackle-making drawing comparisons to the likes of Sergio Ramos and Thiago Silva.[14] Marseille's former director for youth recruitment, Georges Prost, described him as a real competitor capable of controlled aggression and precision.[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of 13 January 2016
Appearances, goals and assists by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup1 League Cup2 Continental3 Other Total Ref.
League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Marseille 2014–15 Ligue 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 [18]
2015–16 8 0 1 0 2 0 4 00 0 15 0 [18]
Career Total 12 0 1 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 19 0 —

1 Includes Coupe de France matches. 2 Includes Coupe de la Ligue matches. 3 Includes UEFA Europa League matches.

Honours

International

France U20

References

  1. 1 2 Haddouche, Karim (23 July 2014). "Stéphane Sparagna, la force tranquille" (in French). Olympique de Marseille. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Scott, A. (9 August 2014). "Bastia hold OM in battle of new coaches". Ligue 1. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. ↑ Laurens, Julian (August 12 2014). "Bielsa fascinates on Marseille debut". ESPN. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Stephane Sparagna". Ligue 1. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Andonian, Tuiloma and Sparagna sign pros to OM" (in French). Olympique de Marseille. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Sanderson, Jamie (14 October 2014). "Arsenal make transfer offer for injury-ravaged Marseille kid Stephane Sparagna". Metro. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Juve fall apart in Marseille". Football Italia. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Stephane Sparagna". Soccerway. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Europa League : Marseille bat facilement Groningue 3 à 0" (in French). FranceTV. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Dangouma, Lionel (17 December 2015). "Marseille bat Bourg-en-Bresse et se qualifie pour les quarts de la Coupe de la Ligue" (in French). L'Equipe. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Live: Caen v Olympique Marseille". Eurosport. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "Sparagna et le "contrôle antidopage" (in French). La Provence. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  13. 1 2 Smith, Jeremy (8 June 2015). "France Weather Moroccan Storm to Lift the Toulon trophy". French Football Weekly. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  14. 1 2 Bekker, Liam (22 December 2015). "Scout Report: Stephane Sparagna: Marseille’s combative young centre-back". Outside of the Boot. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "U-23 MNT Falls to Host France in Toulon Tournament Opener". US Soccer. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Zlateski, Alexander (15 November 2015). "French rally holds Macedonia U21 to a draw". Macedonian Football. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "Le50 2016: Stéphane Sparagna". French Football Weekly. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Stéphane Sparagna: Club matches". Olympique de Marseille. Retrieved 4 September 2015.

External links

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