Paul Sinibaldi (3 December 1921 – 2 April 2018) was a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Early and personal life

Born in Montemaggiore, Corsica, Sinibaldi's two brothers

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

and Noël were also footballers. Sinibaldi was a mentor to

Raymond Kopa Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three Eu ...

and was godfather to his son.

Career

Sinibaldi played club football for

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

Olympique Alès Olympique Alès is a French association football club founded in 1923, based in the commune of Alès. The Cévennes club currently plays in Championnat National 2, the fourth division of the French football league system. The club in the past ...

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

and

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

. With Reims he won the championship three times and the Coupe de France once. He earned one international cap for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1950. At the time of his death he was the oldest living former French international.

Later life and death

He died in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on 2 April 2018, at the age of 96.

References

1921 births 2018 deaths Footballers from Haute-Corse French men's footballers France men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Toulouse FC players Nîmes Olympique players Olympique Alès players Stade de Reims players Stade Français (association football) players Ligue 2 players Ligue 1 players 20th-century French sportsmen {{France-footy-goalkeeper-stub