International Career
Gallas was a part of the France U-18 European Championship winning side. He also played for the France U-20 team in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship along with fellow Frenchmen Willy Sagnol and Thierry Henry.
He is now a regular member for France, having formed Raymond Domenech's first-choice centre-back partnership with Lilian Thuram during the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2008. He made his full France debut in a 5–0 victory over Slovenia in a Euro 2004 qualifier on 12 October 2002, and was a member of the squad for the tournament's finals. He was in the 2003 Confederations Cup winning side, and more recently he was a member of the squad that reached the 2006 World Cup final. Following the World Cup, he criticised the Portugal team for diving, saying that when the French faced them in the semi-finals they needed to look out for their unfair style of play.
Gallas won his 50th cap for France in the 3–1 win against Italy on 6 September 2006 at the Stade de France in a Euro 2008 qualifying match.
Gallas is still eligible to represent Guadeloupe internationally as well, as they are not FIFA-affiliated. His cousin, Ludovic Quistin, has represented Guadeloupe.
On 10 October, he scored for France against Faroe in the 53rd minute.
On 18 November he scored a goal against the Republic of Ireland in extra time of a World Cup playoff. The goal made the score 1–1, and 2–1 to France on aggregate. This meant that France qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The goal was controversial as it was scored after his teammate, Thierry Henry handled the ball twice.
On 30 May 2010, he scored the equaliser against Tunisia in the 63rd minute in a friendly match.
On 6 June 2011, aged 33 and with 84 caps to his name and 5 goals he announced his retirement from international football with immediate effect after he was again ignored by France coach Laurent Blanc.
Read more about this topic: William Gallas
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“John Brown’s career for the last six weeks of his life was meteor-like, flashing through the darkness in which we live. I know of nothing so miraculous in our history.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)