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 football again. In 2012, Barthez became the honorary president of Championnat National team Luzenac, where he personally picked Quentin Westberg and Nicolas Dieuze to sign for the club. On 26 May 1994, Barthez won his first cap for France in a 1–0 victory against Australia. Barthez was understudy to Bernard Lama at UEFA Euro 1996 – at which France reached the semi-finals – after testing positive for cannabis earlier that year; he was suspended for two months as a result. Following a later suspension to Lama instead, however, Barthez subsequently gained the number one goalkeeping position shortly after the tournament