- Vikash Dhorasoo
-
Vikash Dhorasoo 
Personal information Date of birth 10 October 1973 Place of birth Harfleur, France Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) Playing position Midfielder Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1993–1998 Le Havre 137 (4) 1998–2004 Lyon 161 (11) 2001–2002 → Bordeaux (loan) 28 (1) 2004–2005 [[shajne |Milan]] 12 (0) 2005–2006 Paris Saint-Germain 37 (0) 2007 Livorno 0 (0) National team 1999–2006 France 18 (1) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Vikash Dhorasoo (born 10 October 1973) is a former professional French football midfielder, poker player, and actor. He was chairman of the French football club L'Entente SSG.
Contents
Club career
Born in Harfleur near Le Havre in Normandy, Dhorasoo began his football career with Le Havre AC, where he made his debut in a 0–0 draw with AS Saint-Etienne in August 1993. He was regarded as a promising midfielder as well as one of the best dribblers in Lyon history. After five years at Le Havre, he went on to play for Olympique Lyonnais in 1998.
He had a brief spell at league rivals FC Girondins de Bordeaux from 2001 to 2002, before he returned to Lyon in 2002. He won two French Ligue 1 championships with Lyonnais in 2003 and 2004, and moved abroad to play for Italian club AC Milan in 2004. He was an unused substitute in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, when Liverpool beat AC Milan on penalties, but won a runners-up medal.
Dhorasoo moved back to France in 2005, signing for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). He was an important part of the PSG that won the 2006 Coupe de France (French Cup), as he scored a magnficent 25 yard shot in the final and secured the victory against fierce rivals Olympique de Marseille. He was selected for the French squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, but only saw limited playing time during the tournament.
In September 2006 he criticised manager Guy Lacombe in an interview with L'Equipe, and a month later his contract with PSG was terminated,[1] being the first player to be sacked from a French club since 1973.
On 3 July 2007 Livorno announced to have signed Dhorasoo with a statement on their official website[2] However, Livorno rescinded his contract in October of the same year due to differences with the club.[3] According to the club's president Aldo Spinelli, Dhorasoo refused to play with the club's youth side, which would have helped re-evaluate the player's fitness levels. Spinelli felt that this left the club with only one option, and that was to terminate the player's contract. Even after Ligue 2 side Grenoble made an approach to sign the player he finally announced his retirement on 11 January 2008.
International career
While at Lyon, Dhorasoo made his debut for the French national team in a goalless draw against Ukraine on 27 March 1999. He played another national team match in June 1999, before his national team career went into a five-year hiatus, he scored one goal in eighteen appearances for the French national team, and he represented his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
Dhorasoo was once more called up for the French national team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification in September 2004. After the World Cup, Dhorasoo publicly revealed the time spent in the French squad during the month long tournament, through a documentary. Much to the anger of French national team manager Raymond Domenech and the FFF, Dhorasoo was warned against publishing the documentary. He retired from the French national team, saying "I am not interested in playing for Les Bleus any more. It's over."[4]
Dhorasoo made 18 national team appearances between 1999 and 2006, scoring a single goal.
International Goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 12 October 2005 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France 
Cyprus3 – 0 4–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification Personal life
Dhorasoo is of Indo-Mauritian origin. He belongs to the Telugu community, his ancestors having migrated to Mauritius from the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, and were of the Hindu faith. He began university studies in economics before committing to professional football.
He is married to longtime girlfriend Émilie and has two daughters, Rose (born 8 March 2003), and Sara (13 March 2005).
He has spoken out against bigotry and in 2003 he started actively supporting Paris Foot Gay, a football club which combats homophobia and other discrimination in the sport.[5] Dhorasoo also works actively to fight poverty in countries such as Mauritius and has established several programs for it.
Coaching career
In July 2009, he became chairman of French football club L'Entente SSG.[6]
Film
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Dhorasoo did some personal filming for a film called Substitute, which was released the following year in France.
His most recent film is La très très grande entreprise, released in November 2008.
Club honours
- 2001: Coupe de la Ligue with Olympique Lyonnais
- 2002: Coupe de la Ligue with Girondins de Bordeaux
- 2003: Trophée des Champions with Olympique Lyonnais
- 2003: Ligue 1 with Olympique Lyonnais
- 2004: Ligue 1 with Olympique Lyonnais
- 2006: French Cup with Paris Saint Germain
Poker career
Since 2007, Dhorasso has been playing in poker tournaments, mostly in France. He has cashed in two European Poker Tour events and also has several other tournament cashes.
Dhorasso's largest tournament cash to date is $187,887 for winning the $2,200 No Limit Hold'em main event tournament on the Barrier Poker Tour in 2010.
As of 2011, his total live tournament earnings exceed $400,000.
References
- ^ "Midfielder Dhorasoo sacked by PSG". CNN. 11 October 2006. http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/football/10/11/france.dhorasoo/index.html. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
- ^ "Soccer-French midfielder Dhorasoo signs for Livorno". Reuters. 3 July 2007. http://uk.reuters.com/article/UK_WORLDFOOTBALL/idUKL0382547820070703. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
- ^ "Unfit Dhorasoo leaves Livorno". Channel 4. 31 October 2007. http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/oct31d.html.
- ^ "Munitis moves, Toni stays". UEFA. 8 August 2006. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/Kind=2/newsId=443314.html.
- ^ "Dhorasoo tackles great taboo". UEFA. 17 February 2006. http://en.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=16384/newsId=394550.html.
- ^ http://www.lentente.fr/index.php?option=com_m2c&Itemid=42
External links
- (French) FFF profile
- (French) PSG profile
- (French) Blog
France Squad • 2 Djetou • 3 Bonnissel • 4 Laville • 5 Moreau • 6 Vieira • 7 Makélélé • 8 Dhorasoo • 9 Maurice • 10 Sibierski • 11 Pirès • 12 Toyes • 13 Candela • 14 Dacourt • 15 Vairelles • 16 Fernandez • 17 Wiltord • 18 Legwinski • 20 Dieng • Coach: Domenech
France squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Landreau • 2 Boumsong • 3 Abidal • 4 Vieira • 5 Gallas • 6 Makélélé • 7 Malouda • 8 Dhorasoo • 9 Govou • 10 Zidane (c) • 11 Wiltord • 12 Henry • 13 Silvestre • 14 Saha • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Givet • 18 Diarra • 19 Sagnol • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Chimbonda • 22 Ribéry • 23 Coupet • Coach: DomenechCategories:- 1973 births
- French footballers
- France international footballers
- French expatriate footballers
- French Hindus
- French people of Indian descent
- French people of Mauritian descent
- Ligue 1 players
- Le Havre AC players
- Olympique Lyonnais players
- FC Girondins de Bordeaux players
- Serie A footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Italy
- A.C. Milan players
- Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players
- A.S. Livorno Calcio players
- France under-21 international footballers
- Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers of France
- 2006 FIFA World Cup players
- Association football midfielders
- French poker players
- Telugu people
- Living people
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