Anthony Lopes is a bona fide legend at French club Olympique Lyonnais. Indeed, until recently the long-serving goalkeeper was well positioned to become the club’s all-time record appearance holder, with just 53 showings separating him from the distinction.
However, this season has seen the Portuguese international cast aside by the Lyon hierarchy and relegated to 4th choice as means of ostracization. To make matters worse, Lopes says there has been little in the way of explanation from his boyhood club.
Born locally in the commune of Givors, Lopes joined Lyon’s youth team at the age of 9 and progressed through the ranks before establishing himself as first-choice goalkeeper of the first team during the 2013-14 season. Lopes opted to play internationally for Portugal based on his family’s roots in Porto, but across the last decade he has become a symbol of his local club.
With 489 appearances, Lopes is 5th on Lyon’s list of all-time record appearance makers. Just one match short of 4th place Yves Chauveau on 490 and only five shy of Fleury Di Nallo on 494, Lopes was expected to quickly make it into the top three. At the age of 33, his chance of making up the 53 games to all-time leader Sergie Cheisa on 542 was deemed more than possible.
Yet Lopes has been brutally sidelined this season. Not only has the 14-time Portugal international been left off the squad list for the campaign and been demoted to the status of 4th choice, Lopes finds himself without an explanation from the club, now led by American businessman John Textor.
“Nobody ever had time to talk to me, except the coach once or twice,“ Lopes said of his predicament. “In the short term, I will work to maintain my fitness, I feel very good. Then I need to find a new challenge as soon as possible, because I miss the adrenaline of the pitch and the game.
“No one at the club can blame me for not being committed to training, I haven’t missed any, I’m always there with a smile. I never get grumpy when I could do, but my personal situation shouldn’t interfere with the collective. I have respect for the group and the team. I never thought that this would be the end of me at OL, I had imagined something different.“
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The Lyon fans have offered support to their club icon, with one banner at a recent game thanking Lopes for his legacy. For now, Lopes does not even attend matches at the stadium, with his services clearly no longer required behind Lyon’s other goalkeepers Lucas Perri, Rémy Descamps and Justin Bengui João.
“I simply think that I am not part of the pecking order,” Lopes said, who was critical of the club's dire position this time last year. “I am in the place that was given to me, which is to say, none. I accept the situation as best I can, knowing that I have no other choice available. I am in the training group, but not in the pecking order, as I am not eligible to play.
“I haven’t received any explanation. Since no one blames me for anything in terms of sport and my commitment over the weeks, how can I understand this? The reality is that I watch the games from the sofa.
“At this club, I only have the support of the fans.”
By @SeanGillen9