Source: goalMathieu Valbuena (born 28 September 1984 in Bruges, Gironde) is a footballer from France who currently plays for Marseille in Ligue 1. He plays as an attacking midfielder. Due to his small stature, he was given the nickname Le Petit vélo, which translates to "the small bike". This is a play on Valbuena's size and the fact that Marseille's home ground is called the Stade Vélodrome.
Mathieu began his career playing for the biggest club in the Gironde department, FC Girondins de Bordeaux. After spending a year there, he was dropped by the club due to his small stature, akin to Shaun Wright-Phillips's situation at Nottingham Forest. He moved to a local club, Langon-Castets, where he impressed scouts and after spending two years with them, moved to Championnat National side Libourne Saint-Seurin. In his two seasons with Libourne Saint-Seurin, his play went through a major upgrade, playing in 53 matches and scoring 10 goals. However, his performance during the 05–06 season was beneficial to the club playing in 29 matches and scoring 9 goals helping the club achieve promotion to Ligue 2, though they would get relegated back to National the following season. For his efforts that season, he was named the league's Player of the Year.
Due to his success with Libourne Saint-Seurin, Valbuena services were in high demand. On June 9, 2006, his dream move to Ligue 1 was complete securing a move to French giants Olympique de Marseille agreeing to a three-year deal.
Mathieu's start with Marseille got off to a bad start picking up an injury while training that same summer. Due to the injury, he made his debut late in the season against Valenciennes coming on as a substitute in their 1–0 victory. He made 14 more appearances that season, mainly as a substitute, including a match where he scored his first goal for Marseille, a game-winner in the 86th minute against Saint-Étienne.
The following season saw a drastic improvement from Valbuena, primarily due to him staying healthy and the departure of Franck Ribéry. His playing time increased and he displayed amazing form including scoring a wonder goal in a UEFA Champions League group stage match against English powerhouse Liverpool at Anfield.The goal would turn out to be the game-winner with Marseille upsetting Liverpool 1–0.
Due to his promising performances, Marseille awarded him a contract extension, which will keep him with the side until 2010. He signed a new extension in April 2008, which ties him to the club until 2013.
Due to playing with clubs of small stature early in his career, Valbuena did not receive any call-ups to any of the France national youth football team squads. Due to his impressive performances with Marseille, he was awarded a call up to the senior side by coach Raymond Domenech for their matches against England and Mali. However, he picked up an injury and was forced to miss out.
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