Raymond Domenech

Raymond Domenech

Personal information
Full name	Raymond Manuel Albert Domenech
Date of birth	24 January 1952 (1952-01-24) (age 59)
Place of birth	Lyon, France
Playing position	Right, Left Full back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1969–1977	Lyon	255	(10)
1977–1981	Strasbourg	138	(4)
1981–1982	Paris Saint-Germain	19	(1)
1982–1984	Bordeaux	47	(3)
1984–1988	Mulhouse	13	(0)
Total		472	(18)
National team
1973–1979	France	8	(0)
Teams managed
1985–1989	Mulhouse
1989–1993	Lyon
1993–2004	France U-21
2004–2010	France
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Raymond Domenech (French pronunciation: [ʁɛmɔ̃ dɔmɛnɛk]; born 24 January 1952 in Lyon) is a retired French footballer and the former manager of the France national team.^[1]

France manager

2006 World Cup

On 12 July 2004, Domenech was a surprise choice to succeed Jacques Santini after the country's disappointing exit from UEFA Euro 2004 by losing in the quarter-final match to the eventual tournament-upset winners Greece. He was given the objective by the FFF to reach "at least" the 2006 FIFA World Cup semi-finals.

Qualifying

France struggled in the qualifiers, even though the team was seeded in a group that included the relatively unheralded teams of Israel and Switzerland. The Republic of Ireland were France's main contenders in the group, and looked like contributing to France's exit until Zinédine Zidane returned to inspire France to a 1-0 win at Landsdowne Road, ultimately ending the hopes of the Irish. Domenech had to force Claude Makélélé, Lilian Thuram and Zinedine Zidane, members of France's "golden generation," out of international retirement to aid the national team to eventually qualify. The general consensus in France, however, was that France was too dated a side to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup, despite the return of their cherished talisman, Zidane.

Squad selection

A keen amateur dramatist and astrologer, Domenech has admitted to distrusting Scorpios, such as Robert Pirès. This led to the choosing of Vikash Dhorasoo who played an important part in qualifying but not in the finals. He later fell out with Dhorasoo after he made a behind the scenes film called "Substitute". His decision to leave out FC Barcelona star Ludovic Giuly in favour of Franck Ribéry, and subsequent refusal to explain that decision, left many French players and fans mystified.^[2] Domenech chose Pascal Chimbonda, a low-profile player with no face or international experience, for the squad. Domenech's selection for the France's World Cup squad was further criticised when he publicly announced that Fabien Barthez would start ahead of Olympique Lyonnais goalkeeper Grégory Coupet. This decision was met with derision in the French press and also led to Coupet walking out of the national squad before the tournament, though he was later to return.^[3] His exclusion of Roma back-bone defender Philippe Mexès has also raised a few eyebrows. Mexès, named "Hope of the Year" in 2000 and being a starting defender for Roma since his arrival to the team, has still not played in a competitive senior tournament under Domenech.

Finals in Germany

France had a slow start in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, recording draws against Switzerland and South Korea before finally defeating Togo. However, France turned the corner after the victory against Togo and started to play passing possession football in their triumphs in 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. They shone in the knockout round, which included impressive victories over favoured Spain, Brazil, and Portugal. France lost the final to Italy in a penalty shootout following a 1–1 draw after extra time.

Recalled golden generation veterans Zidane and Thuram earned spots on the All-Star Team, with Zidane being awarded the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament despite receiving a red card in the final.

Euro 2008

On 27 August 2007, Claude Makélélé's club manager, José Mourinho, stated that Domenech was treating Makélélé "like a slave," since Domenech had called him up for Euro 2008 qualifiers even though Makélélé had announced his retirement after the 2006 World Cup. Domenech responded, "As long as he can walk, he will play. I have the right to pick him." ^[4][5] A 3–0 shutout of Georgia and a 3–1 defeat of Italy in the first Euro 2008 qualifiers took France back to the top of the ELO rankings. France ended up last in their UEFA Euro 2008 Group C and failed to advance in the tournament after losing to Italy 0-2.

World Cup 2010

France almost failed to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, if not for the team's victory against the Republic of Ireland. However, the outcome of the game was disputed. In the game, Thierry Henry handled the ball before setting up William Gallas to score the winning goal, but the handling was missed by the referee, Martin Hansson.

In the first game of the finals, France drew with Uruguay 0-0. Following their draw with Uruguay, Zidane described Domenech as having lost control of the team.^[6] The draw was then followed by a 2-0 defeat by Mexico, during which striker Nicolas Anelka reportedly directed an obscenity-laden tirade at Domenech.^[7] Anelka would be dismissed from the team the next day.^[8] The day after Anelka's dismissal, team captain Patrice Evra and team trainer Robert Duverne had a heated confrontation in which Domenech had to physically restrain Duverne; the players responded by returning to the team bus and refusing to continue with practice.^[9] After the French Football Federation condemned the player boycott,^[10] the team returned to practice without further incident. France's World Cup campaign ended with a 2-1 defeat to South Africa which saw France finish at the bottom of Group A. Domenech infamously bowed out by refusing to shake the hand of his opposite number in the final game, Carlos Alberto Parreira.

Career

• 1969-1977: played for Lyon. Won Coupe de France in 1973.
• 1977-1981: played for Strasbourg. Won Championnat de France in 1979.
• 1981-1982: played for Paris Saint-Germain
• 1982-1984: played for Bordeaux. Won Coupe de France in 1984.
• 1984: retired at the end of a playing career which saw him earn 8 international caps.
• 1985-1989: a year after retiring, moved into management of Mulhouse
• 1989-1993: manager of Lyon
• 1993-2004: manager of French youth team (les Bleuets)
• 12 July 2004 - 2010: manager of the French national team (les Bleus)

Career statistics

References

• Raymond Domenech profile at footballdatabase.eu

France Squad France squad – 1996 Summer Olympics 1 Letizi • 2 Djetou • 3 Bonnissel • 4 Laville • 5 Moreau • 6 Vieira • 7 Makélélé • 8 Dhorasoo • 9 Maurice • 10 Sibierski • 11 Pirès • 12 Toyes • 13 Candela • 14 Dacourt • 15 Vairelles • 16 Fernandez • 17 Wiltord • 18 Legwinski • 20 Dieng • Coach: Domenech France squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Landreau • 2 Boumsong • 3 Abidal • 4 Vieira • 5 Gallas • 6 Makélélé • 7 Malouda • 8 Dhorasoo • 9 Govou • 10 Zidane (c) • 11 Wiltord • 12 Henry • 13 Silvestre • 14 Saha • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Givet • 18 Diarra • 19 Sagnol • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Chimbonda • 22 Ribéry • 23 Coupet • Coach: Domenech France squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Mandanda • 2 Boumsong • 3 Abidal • 4 Vieira (c) • 5 Gallas • 6 Makélélé • 7 Malouda • 8 Anelka • 9 Benzema • 10 Govou • 11 Nasri • 12 Henry • 13 Evra • 14 Clerc • 15 Thuram • 16 Frey • 17 Squillaci • 18 Gomis • 19 Sagnol • 20 Toulalan • 21 Diarra • 22 Ribéry • 23 Coupet • Coach: Domenech France squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Lloris • 2 Sagna • 3 Abidal • 4 Réveillère • 5 Gallas • 6 Planus • 7 Ribéry • 8 Gourcuff • 9 Cissé • 10 Govou • 11 Gignac • 12 Henry • 13 Evra (c) • 14 Toulalan • 15 Malouda • 16 Mandanda • 17 Squillaci • 18 Diarra • 19 Diaby • 20 Valbuena • 21 Anelka • 22 Clichy • 23 Carrasso • Coach: Domenech