Raymond Domenech hangs on as coach of French soccer team Les Bleus
September 17, 2008
Beleaguered coach Domenech is still in charge, angering many French football fans.
Although it was widely expected that Raymond Domenech would lose his position as coach of France’s beloved football team known as Les Bleus this year after questions about his leadership, his decisions and the dismal performance his team, in July 2008 it was announced Domenech had retained his job. But many in France still protest the unexpected decision.
The outcome of a midsummer Paris meeting between FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes and several council members means the 56-year-old Domenech gets a chance to lead Les Bleus to the 2010 World Cup. The FFF president said he did not want to make a knee-jerk decision based on the public outcry that followed France’s collapse in Euro 2008.
The FFF’s vote of confidence in Domenech surprised some and outraged many in France. Despite reaching the finals of the 2006 World Cup, Domenech’s record is not very impressive. His squad selection policy and tactics have long been considered suspect by many football experts. In the Euro 2008 championship, France lost to Scotland twice and barely made their way into Euro 2008. Once in the tournament, two-time European champion France failed to win a match and scored only one goal, in a 4-1 loss to the Netherlands. Domenech had earlier said that he would quit as coach if he failed to qualify for the quarterfinals. But he remains coach of les Bleus.
Even more recently, France lost to Austria for the first time since 1970. The score in that match, held on Septmber 6, was 3-1.
Domenech’s more unorthodox practices are also a cause for dismay among many fans in France and elsewhere. Domenech has admitted reading tarot cards to gauge a player’s personality. He is a student of astrology and avoids selecting Scorpios in his squad. This prompted a falling out with Robert Pires in 2004, which led to Pires’ international retirement. Fans have soured even more on Domenech recently for his hotheaded way of responding to questions, for alienating French players from the fans with closed-door training sessions and for proposing to his TV news anchor girlfriend, Estelle Denis, live on television just moments after the French were eliminated from Euro 2008.
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