Didier Deschamps

Didier Deschamps
Deschamps as France manager in 2018
Personal information
Full name Didier Claude Deschamps[1]
Date of birth (1968-10-15) 15 October 1968 (age 55)[2]
Place of birth Bayonne, France
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[3][4]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
France (manager)
Youth career
1976–1983 Bayonne
1983–1985 Nantes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1989 Nantes 111 (4)
1989–1994 Marseille 123 (6)
1990–1991Bordeaux (loan) 29 (3)
1994–1999 Juventus 124 (4)
1999–2000 Chelsea 27 (0)
2000–2001 Valencia 14 (0)
Total 427 (17)
International career
1988–1989 France U21 18 (0)
1989–2000 France 103 (4)
Managerial career
2001–2005 Monaco
2006–2007 Juventus
2009–2012 Marseille
2012– France
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France (as player)
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1998 France
European Football Championship
Winner 2000 Belgium–Netherlands
Representing  France (as manager)
FIFA World Cup
Winner 2018 Russia
Runner-up 2022 Qatar
European Football Championship
Runner-up 2016 France
UEFA Nations League
Winner 2021 Italy
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Didier Claude Deschamps (French pronunciation: [didje klod deʃɑ̃];[5] born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been managing the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, England and Spain, namely Marseille, Juventus, Chelsea and Valencia, as well as Nantes and Bordeaux. Nicknamed "the water-carrier" (French: le porteur d'eau), Deschamps was an intelligent and hard-working defensive midfielder who excelled at winning back possession and subsequently starting attacking plays, and also stood out for his leadership throughout his career. As a French international, he was capped on 103 occasions and took part at three UEFA European Football Championships and one FIFA World Cup, captaining his nation to victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

In addition to winning two Division 1 titles in 1990 and 1992, Deschamps was part of the Marseille squad that became the first, and so far only, French club to win the UEFA Champions League, a feat which the team achieved in 1993; with the Champions League victory, Deschamps became the youngest captain ever to lead his team to win the title. With Juventus he played three Champions League finals in a row between 1996 and 1998, winning the title in 1996. With the Turin side, he also won the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, as well as three Serie A titles, among other trophies. With Chelsea, he won the 1999–2000 FA Cup, and also reached another Champions League final with Valencia in 2001, before retiring later that season. After Franz Beckenbauer and followed by Iker Casillas, he was only the second captain in the history of football to have lifted the Champions League trophy, the World Cup trophy, and the European Championship trophy.[6]

As a manager, Deschamps began his career with Monaco, and helped the club to win the Coupe de la Ligue in 2003, and reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final, being named Ligue 1 Manager of the Year in 2004. During the 2006–07 season, he helped his former club Juventus win the Serie B title and return to Serie A following their relegation due to their involvement in the 2006 Calciopoli Scandal the previous season. He subsequently managed another one of his former clubs, Marseille, where he won the Ligue 1 title during the 2009–10 season, as well as three consecutive Coupe de la Ligue titles between 2010 and 2012, and consecutive Trophée des Champions titles in 2010 and 2011.

On 8 July 2012, Deschamps was named as the new manager of the France national team. He led the team to the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the final of UEFA Euro 2016, victory in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and a back-to-back final appearance in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Upon winning the World Cup in 2018, Deschamps became the third man to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager, alongside Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer—both of whom died in January 2024 two days apart, leaving Deschamps the only living man to have reached the milestone. Deschamps follows Beckenbauer as only the second to do so as captain.[7]

  1. ^ "Line-ups: Matchday 2 – Tuesday 30 Sep 2003: Group C – Louis II – Monaco" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Didier Deschamps: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Didier Deschamps". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Deschamps, Didier Claude Deschamps - Footballer". www.bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  5. ^ Panda Speaks French (8 June 2018). Didier Deschamps - How To Pronounce - French Native Speaker. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021 – via youtube.com.
  6. ^ "World Cup 2018: Didier Deschamps and his water carriers". www.sportskeeda.com. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Who has won the World Cup as a manager and player?". Sports Illustrated. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.

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