play for Athletic, which has a policy of selecting only players of Basque birth or heritage. Suffering from a persistent groin injury, he was unable to displace the experienced Aitor Larrazábal at left back, received two red cards among the 16 league appearances he did make, and had disagreements with the head coach, compatriot Luis Fernández. In the 1997 close season, he transferred to Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich Before even playing a Bundesliga match, Lizarazu lifted a trophy with his new club, winning the inaugural edition of the preseason DFL-Ligapokal. It was the start of a highly successful spell in Bavaria, despite the interruption of some serious injuries, as he went on to win six Bundesliga championships (including three in a row between 1999 and 2001), as well as five DFB-Pokals, the Champions League in 2001 (scoring his penalty in the shootout), and the Intercontinental Cup. On winning the Intercontinental Cup in 2001, he became the first player to be a current European and World champion in both club and international football. Lizarazu said that he would leave Bayern in the summer of 2004 and eventually signed with Olympique Marseille. However, after only six months back in France, he returned to Bayern Munich in January 2005. During his second spell with Bayern, ending in 2006 when he gave way to the emerging Philipp Lahm, Lizarazu wore the shirt number 69; clarifying that it was not a lewd gesture, he said this was because he was born in 1969, his height is 1.69 m and he weighed 69 kg. He made 268 appearances in all competitions for Bayern between 1997 and 2006, scoring eight goals. 183 of these games were in the German top-flight. International career Lizarazu was capped 97 times for France (for the first time on 14 November 1992 against Finland), scoring two goals, and helped them win the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000, starting in the final of both tournaments. He retired from international football after France were surprisingly eliminated by eventual winners Greece at Euro 2004. Style of play Regarded by pundits as one of the best left-backs of his generation, Lizarazu was an attacking full-back or wing-back, who was known for his passing, technique, pace, stamina, and his ability to get up the flank and provide accurate crosses from the touch-line. In addition to his offensive prowess, he was also known for his defensive