Rudy Riou (born 22 January 1980) is a French former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper who is the goalkeeper coach of

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

Career

Montpellier

Riou made his

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

début on 31 July 1999, being a key figure in a 2–1 victory over

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

. He played 20 games for Montpellier before they were relegated. He signed his first professional contract in 2000. In

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

he played 18 games and participated in the club's promotion back to Ligue 1. He then spent three seasons in Ligue 1 but at the end of the 2003–04 season he left Montpellier, who were once again relegated to Ligue 2.

Istres and Toulouse

In 2004 Riou agreed to sign for FC Istres, who were newly promoted to Ligue 1. He remained with FC Istres for three years before they were relegated to

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. Riou then went on to sign for

, but rarely featured.

Marseille

At the beginning of the 2008–2009 season, he moved to

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

to cover for Steve Mandanda, with Cedric Carrasso in turn moving in the opposite direction to Toulouse. On 29 October 2008, he made his first appearance for the club, replacing Steve Mandanda due to a thigh injury at halftime against

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. The match ended 1–1.

Charleroi

In January 2011 he signed a six-month contract with Sporting Charleroi after being released by Marseille.

Nantes

After a short spell at Charleroi, Riou signed a three-year contract with FC Nantes on 20 July 2011.

OH Leuven

In July 2015, free agent Riou signed for

OH Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, ''D ...

. He left the club at the end of season following their relegation to the

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

Coaching career

After retiring in the summer 2016, Riou immediately started his coaching career at

Étoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël Étoile may refer to: Places ;France * Charles de Gaulle – Étoile, station of the Paris Métro * Étoile-Saint-Cyrice, commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in France * Étoile-sur-Rhône, commune in the Drôme department in France * L'Étoi ...

where he was appointed assistant manager to Charles Paquille. In October 2018 Riou was appointed goalkeeper's coach for the Gabon national team by manager

Daniel Cousin Daniel Michel Cousin (born 7 February 1977) is a Gabonese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for Martigues, Chamois Niortais, Le Mans Union Club 72, RC Lens, Rangers, Hull City, Larissa and Sapins, as well a ...

. He left the position in March 2019. In October 2019, he was appointed goalkeeper coach under manager

Antoine Kombouaré Antoine Krilone Kombouaré (; born 16 November 1963) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Ligue 1 club Nantes. Playing career Born in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, Kombouaré bega ...

Honours

Montpellier *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

References

External links

*
Player profile – L'Equipe.fr

Riou now at Sporting Charleroi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riou, Rudy 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Béziers Footballers from Hérault French men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Belgian Pro League players Olympique de Marseille players Montpellier HSC players FC Istres players Toulouse FC players FC Nantes players RC Lens players Royal Charleroi S.C. players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium