Fabien Barthez or stepovers. He was also very quick off his line, and often acted as a sweeper-keeper, thus contributing to the evolution of the role. While he received plaudits for his goalkeeping ability in the media, throughout his career Barthez also frequently came under criticism from pundits for his stubbornness, and his aggressive, unorthodox, and eccentric style of play, as well as for taking unnecessary risks, and was also deemed to be inconsistent, unreliable, and prone to errors and lapses in concentration. Through his career, Barthez was known for his active romantic life, and dated Canadian model Linda Evangelista. She became
Fabien Barthez pregnant but miscarried, six months into the pregnancy. The couple broke up in the year 2000, reunited in 2001, and then officially ended their relationship in 2002. Barthez later married French R&B singer Ophélie Winter; together, they have a son, Daniel, born in 2003. Barthez is a smoker. Known for his eccentric and superstitious personality, Barthez often wore red briefs underneath his goalkeeping shorts, and usually cut off the sleeves of his goalkeeping jersey. Although most starting goalkeepers are usually assigned the number 1 shirt, he instead chose to wear the number 16 shirt. During his playing career, Barthez signed