Actors - Eric Cantona

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	Actors - Eric Cantona

Eric Cantona (born May 24, 1966) is a French former footballer of the 1990s. He ended his professional footballing career at Manchester United where he won four Premiership titles in five years, including two league and FA Cup "doubles". Cantona is often regarded as having played a major 'talismanic' role in the revival of Manchester United as a footballing powerhouse. In 2000 he was voted their player of the century, and to this day United fans refer to him as "Eric the King".

Career

France

Cantona was born in Paris but grew up in Marseille. He played in France for first division team Olympique de Marseille (also known as "L'OM"). He quite often showed signs of being "short tempered". During a friendly game against Torpedo Moscow Cantona ripped off and threw away his jersey after being substituted. His club responded by banning him for a month. A few weeks later he insulted the coach of the national team on TV and was banned from internationals for a year.

Cantona moved to Bordeaux on loan and then to Montpellier where he won the French Cup. He returned to Marseille for a time but was transferred to Nimes. During a game he threw the ball at the referee, having been angered by one of his decisions. The French FA banned him for a month. Cantona responded by insulting each member once again, and his ban was increased to 2 months. For Cantona this was the last straw and he decided to retire from football in 1991.

Thanks to pressure from high profile football fans Cantona was persuaded to make a comeback and moved to England to restart his career.

England

After having originally come to England for a trial with Sheffield Wednesday, in February 1992 Cantona joined Leeds United, where he helped them win the old First Division championship that season (1991/92). The following November, he was transferred to Manchester United for a relatively small fee of 1.2 million pounds. United's season had been disappointing up to then, as they had had problems scoring goals, partly caused by the sale of Mark Robins and an injury to Dion Dublin. However Cantona quickly settled into the team, not only scoring many goals but creating chances for the other players. For the next two years, United went on an amazing run, winning the inaugural Premiership in 1993 (their first Championship title for 26 years) and then "the double" in 1994, with Cantona's two penalties helping them to a 4-0 win over Chelsea in the F.A. Cup Final. Cantona then became infamous for an incident that occurred in January 1995. In an away match against Crystal Palace, after being sent off by the referee for a tackle on Palace defender Richard Shaw, he launched a 'kung-fu' style kick against an abusive Crystal Palace fan, Matthew Simmons. At a press conference called later, Cantona gave what is perhaps his most famous quote. As the journalists gathered to hear him speak, Cantona entered the room, sat down and said in a slow and deliberate manner; "When the seagulls... follow the trawler... it's because they think... sardines will be thrown... into the sea". He then got up from his seat and left, leaving many of the assembled crowd bemused. He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after an appeal court overturned a 2 week prison sentence for assault. He was also suspended by The Football Association until the following October.

There had been much speculation that Cantona would leave English football when his ban finished, but Alex Ferguson persuaded him to stay in Manchester and Cantona was once again inspirational. United had sold several key players at the start of the season and replaced them with players from the club's youth team and, as in 1992/93, their prospects of winning the league were not looking good. After Ryan Giggs (the one player Cantona claimed had a telepathic understanding with him) had been upended, Cantona scored a penalty against Liverpool in his first game after the ban, and his goals helped United to recapture the league having been twelve points behind Newcastle United in January 1996, virtually going on a one man crusade for the championship title at several important junctures. Often, it would be a spate of 1-0 wins for United with Cantona the goal scorer. Fittingly, he also scored the same 1-0 winning goal in that year's F.A. Cup Final, scoring in his last game of the season against the team he played against in his first game of the season, Liverpool . His redemption was complete after the scandals and lows of a year earlier. Cantona gave a post-match interview saying: "You know that's life. Up and down." Manchester United were the first team to win "the double" twice.

Cantona galvanised the United team to greater success in Europe the following year, with the likes of Ryan Giggs and new bloomed youngsters in David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville emerging under his influence, Cantona had attained the status of 'legend' or as his moniker went, 'The King'. As United retained the league in 1996/97 season, Cantona had won six league titles in seven years, the exception being the 1995 season which he had largely missed through suspension. At the end of the season, he surprisingly announced his retirement from football, at the age of 30. Shortly afterwards, he became captain of the French National Beach Football team.

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Actors - Eric Cantona

Career

France

England

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