(,
1973 in
Harfleur ) is a
French professional
Football Midfielder , who is currently signed to
Italian Serie A side
Livorno . He has scored one goal in eighteen matches for the
French National Team , and he represented his country at the
2006 FIFA World Cup in
Germany .
Born near
Le Havre in
Normandy , Dhorasoo began his football career with
Le Havre AC , where he made his debut in a 0-0 draw with
AS Saint-Etienne in August 1993. He was regarded as a promising midfielder, and after five years at Le Havre, he went on to play for
Olympique Lyonnais in 1998. While at Lyon, he made his debut for the
French National Team in a March 1999 game against
Ukraine . He played another national team match in June 1999, before his national team career went into a five-year hiatus.
He had a brief spell at league rivals
FC Girondins De Bordeaux from 2001 to 2002, before he returned to Lyon in 2002. He won two French
Ligue 1 championships with Lyonnais in 2003 and 2004, and moved abroad to play for
Italian club
AC Milan in 2004. He was once more called up for the French national team for the
2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification in September 2004.
He moved back to France in 2005, signing for
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). He was an important part of the PSG that won the 2006
Coupe De France (French Cup), as he scored in the final and secured the victory against fierce rivals
Olympique De Marseille . He was selected for the French squad at the
2006 FIFA World Cup finals, but only saw limited playing time during the tournament.
After the World Cup, Dhorasoo publicly revealed the time spent in the French squad during the month long tournament, through a documentary. Much to the anger of French national team manager
Raymond Domenech and the
FFF , Dhorasoo was warned against publishing the documentary. He retired from the French national team, saying "I am not interested in playing for Les Bleus any more. It's over."
1 He made 18 national team appearances between 1999 and 2006, scoring a single goal.
In September 2006 he criticised manager
Guy Lacombe in an interview with
L'Equipe , and a month later his contract with PSG was terminated,
2 being the first player to be sacked from a French club since 1973.
On
July 3 ,
2007 Livorno announced to have signed Dhorasoo with a statement on their official website. However, Chelsea announced they would be interested in the player and offered a trial period.
3
He is listed on the Indian Football Association website as ineligible football players to play for India. Many Indians had kept their eyes on him during the 2006 World Cup because of his Indian origin.
Dhorasoo is of
Indo-Mauritian origin. He belongs to the
Telugu community, his ancestors having migrated to
Mauritius from the south
India n state of
Andhra Pradesh , and were of the
Hindu faith. He began university studies in
Economics before committing to professional football. Mauritius wanted Dhorasoo on their national football team. Mauritius almost shocked Uganda by almost beating them in CAF 2006 World Cup qualifying.
He is married to Émilie and has two daughters, Rose (born
March 8 ,
2003 ), and Sara (born
March 13 ,
2005 ).
He has known Emilie since his early teens, if not before that. It was love at first sight, but they did not date until a few years later.
He has spoken out against
Bigotry and in 2003 he started actively supporting
Paris Foot Gay , a football club which combats
Homophobia and other
Discrimination in the sport.
4 Dhorasoo also works actively to fight poverty in countries such as
India and has established several programs for it.
