Mickaël Debève (born December 1, 1970 in Abbeville) is a former French footballer, who played as a midfielder.

[edit] Football career

Debève began his career at Toulouse FC; after a slow start - only four first-team appearances in three seasons, he became an important main squad member. His first match in the top level came on June 5, 1987, in a 1–0 home win against RC Lens.

However, the most important part of Debève's career was spent at precisely Lens, which he helped win the national league in 1998, adding the league cup the following year. In 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, he scored the game's only at Wembley, against Arsenal FC, making Lens the first club from France to win at that ground.

After having totalled already more than 400 official matches in his country, Debève moved to England with Middlesbrough FC in February 2002, arriving for free and rejoining former Lens mate Franck Queudrue.^[1] He left in the summer, and closed out his career in France's second level, with SC Amiens.

Immediately after retiring, Debève became a manager, starting with hometown side SC Abbevillois Football, in the capacity of player-coach.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mickaël Debève French league stats at lfp.fr (French)
• L'Équipe stats (French)
• Mickaël Debève career stats at Soccerbase

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