André-Pierre Gignac

Personal information
Full name	André-Pierre Gignac
Date of birth	5 December 1985 (1985-12-05) (age 23)
Place of birth	Martigues, France
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Toulouse
Number	10
Youth career
1990–1995	Fos
1995–2002	Martigues
2002–2004	Lorient
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2007	Lorient	51	(11)
2005–2006	→ Pau (loan)	18	(8)
2007–	Toulouse	76	(27)
National team‡
2009–	France	8	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 October 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2009 (UTC)

André-Pierre Gignac (born 5 December 1985 in Martigues) is a French professional footballer who currently plays for French Ligue 1 club Toulouse and the French national team. He is the cousin of Valenciennes defender Jacques Abardonado and Yohan Mollo, who currently plays for Monaco.^[1]

[edit] Early career

André-Pierre Gignac began his career with local club FC Martigues^[2] before joining the Lorient youth academy^[3] in 2002. He made his debut with Lorient in Ligue 2 on 13 August 2004, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute with the score tied 1–1 against Châteauroux. Within seconds of coming on, he scored the winning goal giving Lorient a 2–1 victory.^[4]

The following season, Lorient achieved promotion to Ligue 1 though without Gignac's services as he was loaned out to Championnat National side Pau FC during the winter transfer period, where he scored 8 goals in 18 appearances.

He had a successful return to Lorient for the 2006–07 Ligue 1 season appearing in 37 matches and scoring 9 goals to become their leading goalscorer, including a hat trick in 27 minutes in the opening match of the season against Bretagne rivals Nantes.^[5]

[edit] Toulouse and controversy

At the end of the season, on 25 June 2007, it was announced that Gignac had signed a four-year deal with Toulouse.^[6] However, it was revealed soon after that Lorient had accepted a €4.5m bid from Lille OSC and that the player had already agreed to a pre-contract with the Northern side, putting his move to Toulouse in jeopardy.^[7] Despite this, Toulouse trumped Lille's offer by offering the player more than double the salary he had been offered by Lille.^[8] The clubs entered a war of words with Toulouse questioning the legitimacy of Lille's agreement while Gignac and Lille questioned the ethics and tactics of Toulouse.^[8] Eventually, Gignac's move to Toulouse was validated.

Gignac made his competitive debut for Toulouse in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round match against Liverpool, coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute. Toulouse lost the match 0–1 and eventually lost the two-legged tie 0–5 on aggregate, thus being eliminated from the Champions League. Despite the hype, both Gignac and Toulouse had disappointing 07–08 seasons with Gignac appearing in 28 matches and scoring only two goals. Toulouse finished the season in 17th place, just one place above the relegation zone. Some attributed Gignac's struggle for form to him playing second fiddle to Swedish striker Johan Elmander.^[9]

On 4 October 2007, after coming on as a substitute for Elmander, Gignac scored a last-minute goal against Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia to cancel out Claudinei Alexandre Aparecido's opening goal from the penalty spot and enable his team to progress to the group stages of the UEFA Cup on the away goals rule.^[10]

[edit] 2008-09 season

In the 2008-09 season, Gignac's form blossomed as he became first-choice striker due to the departure of Johan Elmander to Bolton Wanderers. He scored his 1st goal of the season in just the second match against Le Havre with an 88th minute strike to seal a 2–1 victory.^[11] Over the course of the season, Gignac scored several vital goals for his club notably braces against Sochaux^[12], Grenoble^[13], Saint-Étienne^[14], Marseille^[15], and Nice twice^[16], including his most recent 23^rd and 24^th goals.^[17] He overtook Elmander (Toulouse's top scorer last year with 11 goals) during the 19^th match.

For his efforts, he was awarded the UNFP Player of the Month award twice for September^[18] and March^[19], nominated for the Ligue 1 Player of the Year Award^[20], which was won by Yoann Gourcuff, selected to the Ligue 1 Team of the Year, and received the Trophée du Meilleur Buteur for being the league's top scorer.

[edit] 2009-10 season

Gignac switched to the number 10 shirt for the 2009–10 season^[21] and scored his first goal of the season on 15 August 2009 in a 3–1 victory over Saint-Étienne.^[22] Five days later, he scored a brace in the first leg of the club's playoff round match against Turkish club Trabzonspor.^[23] The 3–1 result in the first leg was enough for Toulouse to reach the group stage of the competition where Gignac struck again, this time against Belgian club Brugge in a 2–2 draw.^[24]

[edit] International career

Gignac received his first international call up for France for World Cup qualifiers against Lithuania.^[9] He missed the first match due to injury but was fit enough to earn his first cap on 1 April 2009,^[25] coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute and provided the assist to Franck Ribéry's goal in the 1-0 victory.^[26] On 12 August 2009, Gignac scored France's lone goal after 42 minutes against last-place Faroe Islands in a Group 7 World Cup qualifier in Tórshavn. On 10 October 2009, he scored a brace in a five-minute span, again against the Faroe Islands, in France's 5–0 thrashing of the Faroes. Four days later, Gignac struck again against Austria scoring the final goal in France's 3–1 victory after appearing as a substitute for Thierry Henry in the second half.

[edit] Personal life

Belonging to the ethnicity Romani, Gignac was born to a French father and a Franco-Algerian mother.^[27] He is married and has a son, also named André-Pierre.^[9]

[edit] Career statistics

As of 10 October 2009

[edit] International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	August 12, 2009	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	0 - 1	0 - 1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	October 10, 2009	Stade du Roudourou, Guingamp, France	Faroe Islands	1 - 0	5 - 0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	October 10, 2009	Stade du Roudourou, Guingamp, France	Faroe Islands	2 - 0	5 - 0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	October 14, 2009	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Austria	3 - 1	3 - 1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Includes Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des Champions
2. ^ Includes UEFA Supercup

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• (French) André-Pierre Gignac French league stats at lfp.fr