Jean Beausejour
Jean André Emanuel Beausejour Coliqueo is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a left-sided wing-back.
He played in Chile, Switzerland, Brazil, Belgium, Mexico and England, where he won the League Cup with Birmingham City and the FA Cup with Wigan Athletic.
Beausejour made his debut for the Chile national team in 2004 and his 100th appearance for his country in 2018. He was a member of the Copa América-winning squads in 2015 and 2016, and is the only Chilean to score in two consecutive World Cups.
Personal life
Beausejour was born in Santiago. His father, Jean Coty Beausejour, was a Haitian graduate student of African descent who went on to work for the United Nations, and his mother, Viviana Coliqueo Collipay, is a Chilean of Mapuche ethnicity whose father, Andres, had migrated to the city to find work. Beausejour's parents separated when he was very young, and he was raised by his mother and her parents; he regards his grandfather as his father-figure. The family lived in Villa Carmelitas, in the Estación Central commune of Santiago, where Beausejour was educated at Escuela Profesor Ramón del Río, Colegio Holanda and Liceo Guillermo Feliú Cruz. In 2010, the local council declared him an Hijo Ilustre, 'honoured son', of the community, and six years later a new sports centre was named after him.In the 2000s, he had a brief spell in the career of kinesiology at the University of the Americas, where he studied thanks to a scholarship. Nevertheless, he didn't finish that bachelor of Arts degree.
Because of his dark skin, in 2004 the media nicknamed him "Palmatoria" after a black character from ; despite reports that he hated the name, he says it did not bother him, and that being black caused him fewer problems than did the indigenous Mapuche heritage with which he closely identifies.
Beausejour is married to Karina Ugarte., the couple had two children, Joaquín and Luciano. Joaquín has played football in the junior ranks of Universidad Católica, the club where his father completed his youth development.
In the radio program Los Tenores from ADN Radio, Jean stated that Keven Beausejour, a Canadian boxer who competed at the 2023 Pan American Games, is his cousin, son of his Haitian aunt Evianne. However, Keven stated not knowing Jean, revealing it was a joke.
Club career
Early career
As a 10-year-old, Beausejour attended a public trial with the local senior club, Universidad de Chile, and was one of four boys chosen to go through further selection procedures to join the club's youth system. At 14, he was released. After a trial with city rivals Universidad Católica, he was accepted into their youth system where he continued his football development.He began his professional career at Universidad Católica. In 2002, he debuted after being loaned to Universidad de Concepción where he had an impressive season alongside Jorge Valdivia.
In June 2004, he joined Swiss club Servette, reuniting with Valdivia to play in the UEFA Cup. He scored once from 11 appearances in the Swiss Super League before the club went bankrupt in February 2005 and it lost its licence to compete at that level. His goal, Servette's third in a 4–1 win away to Schaffhausen, proved costly to the player who supplied the cross, Paulo Diogo, who leapt onto the perimeter fence in celebration, caught his wedding ring in the metalwork, and when he jumped down, much of his finger was torn away along with the ring. The finger had to be amputated.
In July 2005, Beausejour signed a short-term deal with Brazilian club Grêmio, where he helped the team to win the Série B title.
He joined KAA Gent of Belgium on 31 January 2006 on an 18-month contract, but made no appearances and returned to Chile after a year where he signed for Cobreloa.
In January 2008, Beausejour joined O'Higgins where he was used as left winger by Jorge Sampaoli and re-gained status after impressing once again. His performances led him to the Chile national team coached by Marcelo Bielsa who usually used him in the same position.
On 1 December 2008, it was reported that Beausejour completed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Mexican club América. He made his debut on 4 January 2009 during a 1–1 draw with rivals Guadalajara, scoring the opening goal.
Following a one-and-a-half-year spell with the México DF–based side and his FIFA World Cup participation, he signed a three-year contract with Premier League side Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee in August 2010.
Birmingham City
After 18 months with the Mexico City-based club followed by a "tremendous" World Cup, Beausejour signed a three-year contract with Premier League club Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee in August 2010. Manager Alex McLeish stated that Beausejour was a player that had been on their "list of targets for a long time because he is strong and quick with the ability to beat his man and get crosses in." His debut was delayed while he awaited a working visa, but he made his first appearance on 18 September as a late substitute, replacing Alexander Hleb in the 83rd minute as Birmingham lost 3–1 at West Bromwich Albion. He made more impact on his first start, setting up goals for Hleb and Nikola Žigić in the 3–1 League Cup victory over MK Dons. Described by the Sunday Mirror as "at the heart of everything good about Birmingham" in the FA Cup third round against Millwall, Beausejour provided the assist for the opening goal and "crashed a 20-yard strike off the bar". He scored his first goal for the club six minutes into the FA Cup fifth-round defeat of Sheffield Wednesday, with a side-footed shot from a Lee Bowyer cut-back. He was a second-half substitute as Birmingham won the 2011 League Cup, beating favourites Arsenal 2–1 at Wembley Stadium, thus earning qualification for the Europa League. On 5 March 2011, Beausejour scored his first Premier League goal in a 3–1 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion, and his second came four days later in a 1–1 draw at Everton. But his club struggled with injuries for most of the 2010–11 season, and were relegated from the Premier League.Beausejour was the Birmingham Mail man of the match in Birmingham's first appearance in major European competition for nearly 50 years, the Europa League play-off round first leg against Portuguese club Nacional, which finished goalless. Just days after manager Chris Hughton suggested he wanted more from Beausejour in an attacking role, the player had an eventful man-of-the-match performance as Birmingham beat Leicester City 2–0. In the first few minutes of the second half, he "hit the angle of post and bar with a fierce shot", was considered fortunate by visiting manager Sven-Göran Eriksson to escape a second yellow card, and was tripped by Andy King to earn a penalty kick from which Marlon King opened the scoring. In the Europa League group stage, an error by Beausejour led to Club Brugge's second goal, but he scored from the rebound after Žigić's shot was blocked and was fouled for the penalty from which King equalised. His first league goal of the season came against Burnley in November, again from a rebound, in the second minute of a match that Birmingham won 2–1 in stoppage time.
Wigan Athletic
On 25 January 2012, Beausejour joined Premier League club Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut in the 3–1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 31 January. On his home debut, against Everton, his man-of-the-match performance featured a "low cross struck Phil Neville on the foot, before heading in the direction of Tim Howard, but the ball spun sharply, slipping through the American's grasp" for an own goal. Beausejour slotted well into the 3–4–3 formation playing at left wing back. He helped his team reach the 2013 FA Cup Final, but a hamstring injury meant he missed the match itself, in which Wigan beat Manchester City 1–0 at Wembley to win the first major trophy in their history. Beausejour's second consecutive Premier League relegation was confirmed just days later after a 4–1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.He left Wigan Athletic in June 2014 when his contract expired.
Colo-Colo
2014–15 season
After his participation in the World Cup, Beausejour returned to Chile to play for recent league champions Colo-Colo. He signed a two-year contract at reported wages of 34 million pesos a month. International clearance permitting, coach Héctor Tapia planned to put Beausejour straight into the starting eleven at left back at the expense of Luis Pavez, but he made his competitive debut in the second match of the Torneo Apertura, on 27 June against Deportes Iquique. Colo-Colo won 2–0, both goals scored by Esteban Paredes. On 31 August, Beausejour scored his first competitive goal in a 4–0 home win over Deportes Antofagasta. After scoring his second goal, on 14 September against Palestino in a 3–1 away win, he was sent off for striking Leonardo Valencia and received a two-match suspension. His first match back after the ban was the superclásico against Universidad de Chile on 19 October, in which he scored his side's second goal in a 2–0 victory at the Estadio Monumental.On 30 December 2014, Beausejour appeared in the club's 3–2 Noche Alba win over Unión Española at which the club presented new signings Humberto Suazo and Luis Pedro Figueroa. They made a poor start to the Clausura with a 1–0 defeat at home to San Marcos de Arica on 4 January 2015, but ended a four-match winless streak with a 2–0 win away to O'Higgins in which Beausejour scored his first goal of the season. He started the most part of the tournament as full back, completing fourteen games and one goal in a tournament which Colo-Colo finished runner-up.