 | This articleis missing information about his playing and early managerial careers. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2024) |
 Domenech in 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raymond Manuel Albert Domenech[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1952-01-24)24 January 1952 (age 74) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Lyon, France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Full-back | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969–1977 | Lyon | 246 | (7) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1977–1981 | Strasbourg | 128 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1981–1982 | Paris Saint-Germain | 19 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1984 | Bordeaux | 40 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1985 | Mulhouse | 13 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 433 | (15) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1979 | France | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1988 | Mulhouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1993 | Lyon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–2004 | France U21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | France Olympic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2010 | France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Brittany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Nantes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Raymond Manuel Albert Domenech (born 24 January 1952) is a Frenchfootball manager and former player. He managed theFrance national team from 2004 to 2010, reaching the2006 FIFA World Cup final.[2] He was dismissed after their elimination from the2010 FIFA World Cup, for serious misconduct.[3]
Domenech replacedMarc Bourrier as coach of theFrance national under-21 football team in 1993.[citation needed]
His first major tournament was the1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which France hosted. France had qualified after topping their group in qualification, nine points above second-placedSweden. At the tournament, France defeatedRussia in the quarter-finals but lost toItaly in a penalty shootout at the semifinal stage. Italy went on to win the final againstPortugal.[citation needed]
France qualified for the1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after finishing first in their qualifying group. France defeatedGermany in the quarter-finals. Italy again knocked out the French side at the semi-final stage, the lone goal coming fromFrancesco Totti. Italy retained their title, defeatingSpain in the final.[citation needed]
After finishing third at the 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, France qualified for the1996 Olympics as one of the top five European nations. France finished top of their group with victories overAustralia andSaudi Arabia, and a draw withSpain. At the quarter-finals, France were eliminated 2–1 by Portugal after a golden goal was scored from the penalty spot byJosé Calado.[citation needed]
France failed to qualify for the1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after finishing second in their qualifying group behindNorway. France's final game of qualifying was at home against Norway, with France having needed at least a draw to top their group. Norway produced a 3–2 upset win to qualify above France. Norway went on to finish third at the tournament after being eliminated by championsSpain in the semi-finals.[citation needed]
Domenech was again unsuccessful in qualifying for the2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This time France topped their qualifying group and progressed to the playoffs, where they were drawn against Italy. The first leg in France ended 1–1, and the second leg in Italy ended 1–1 after 90 minutes. The game went into extra time whereAndrea Pirlo produced the winning goal for Italy in the 110th minute.[4] Italy would go on to be champions at the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[citation needed]
Domenech briefly coached theFrance national under-20 football team at the2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. During the group stage, France defeatedIran, and had draws withParaguay andGhana. France progressed from the group stage after finishing second behindGhana. France defeatedGermany 3–2 in the Round of 16 thanks to a goal fromDjibril Cissé in the 90+3rd minute. France were eliminated in the quarter-finals after a 3–1 loss to hosts and eventual championsArgentina.[citation needed]
France qualified for the2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after finishing first in their qualifying group and defeatingRomania in the play-offs. France were undefeated during qualifying. France won all their group matches at the tournament againstCzech Republic,Belgium andGreece. France progressed to the final after defeatingSwitzerland in their semifinal. France met Czech Republic again, but this time the Czech side were victorious in a penalty shootout after the game ended at 0–0 after extra time.[citation needed]
France were dominant in the group stage of qualifying for the2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. They finished first in their group with seven wins, one draw, no losses and no goals conceded. They were drawn againstPortugal in the play-offs and won the first leg in Portugal 2–1. However, Portugal won 2–1 away from home in the second leg, sending the game to extra time.Djibril Cissé had been sent off just before halftime.[5] There were no goals in extra time, so the match was decided by a penalty shootout. Portugal won the shootout, with their final penalty kick being scored byCristiano Ronaldo.[5] Portugal would go on to finish third at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[citation needed]
On 12 July 2004, Domenech was a surprise choice to succeedJacques Santini after the country's disappointing exit fromUEFA Euro 2004 by losing in the quarter-final match to the eventual tournament-upset winnersGreece. He beat the two other shortlisted candidates,Jean Tigana andLaurent Blanc.[6]
France struggled in thequalifiers, even though the team was seeded in a group that included the relatively unheralded teams ofIsrael andSwitzerland. Domenech persuadedClaude Makélélé,Lilian Thuram and Zidane, members of France's "golden generation", out of international retirement to aid the national team. It paid off and they qualified for thefinals.[7] On the final day of fixtures, France qualified automatically with a 4–0 home win over Cyprus.[8]
Domenech fell out withVikash Dhorasoo after he made a behind the scenes film calledSubstitute.[9] His decision to leave outBarcelona starLudovic Giuly in favour ofFranck Ribéry, and subsequent refusal to explain that decision, left many French players and fans mystified.[10] Domenech's selection for France's World Cup squad was further criticised when he publicly announced thatFabien Barthez would start ahead ofLyon goalkeeperGrégory 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, although he later returned.[11] Domenech also excludedRoma centre-backPhilippe Mexès from his 2006 and 2008 squads, taking along the likes ofJean-Alain Boumsong in his place.[12]
France had a slow start in the World Cup, recording draws against Switzerland andSouth Korea before finally defeatingTogo. France then knocked outSpain,Brazil, andPortugal. France lost thefinal toItaly in a penalty shoot-out following a 1–1 draw after extra time.[13] Recalled golden generation veterans Zidane and Thuram earned spots on theAll-Star Team, with Zidane being awarded theGolden Ball for the best player of the tournament despite receiving a red card in the final (the voting was done before Zidane received the red card).[14]
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."[15] France ended up last in theirUEFA Euro 2008 Group C and failed to advance in the tournament after losing to Italy 2–0.[16]
Domenech proposed on live television to his girlfriendEstelle Denis after France's elimination. He later admitted that this was unprofessional.[17]
France qualified for the2010 FIFA World Cup only after defeating the Republic of Ireland in a play-off.The game was controversial, asThierry Henry handled the ball before setting upWilliam Gallas to score the winning goal.[18]
In the first game of the finals, France drew withUruguay 0–0. Following their draw with Uruguay, Zidane described Domenech as having lost control of the team.[19] The draw was then followed by a 2–0 defeat toMexico, during which strikerNicolas Anelka reportedly directed an expletive-laden[20] tirade at Domenech.[21] Anelka was dismissed from the team the next day.[22] The day after Anelka's dismissal, team captainPatrice Evra and team trainerRobert Duverne had a heated confrontation that caused Domenech to physically restrain Duverne; the players responded by returning to the team bus and refusing to continue with practice.[20] After theFrench Football Federation condemned the player boycott,[22] the team returned to practice without further incident. France's World Cup campaign ended with a 2–1 defeat to hostsSouth Africa, meaningLes Bleus finished at the bottom of Group A without winning a single game. Domenech bowed out by refusing to shake the hand of South Africa's coachCarlos Alberto Parreira.[23]
Domenech was dismissed for serious misconduct following the World Cup. He sought €2.9 million compensation, eventually receiving €975,000.[3]
In November 2010, Domenech began coaching the under-11 team atBoulogne-Billancourt.[24] In December 2011, Domenech donated €70,000 of his €150,000 World Cup bonus to the club, with the remaining €80,000 being donated to charity and an inner-city football club fromParis.[25]
In April 2018, he was one of 77 applicants for the vacantCameroon national team job.[26] In December 2020, he expressed a wish to succeedLjubiša Tumbaković as theSerbia national team coach.[27]
On 26 December 2020, ten years after last managing a team, Domenech signed withLigue 1 sideNantes.[28] On 10 February 2021, Domenech was released of his duties as head coach after not winning a single game in his eight matches in charge.[29]
Domenech was previously in a civil relationship with French TV presenterEstelle Denis, whom he met at the studios of channel Infosport+.[30] Domenech proposed to Denis on live television on 17 June 2008, after France's elimination fromUEFA Euro 2008.[31] The couple have two children, a daughter born in 2004 and a son born in 2007.[32] The couple separated in 2020.[33]
Domenech is of Catalan descent.[34] He is fascinated byastrology, and believes that people's personalities are shaped by star signs. He has denied rumours that he picked squads based on astrology, or that he droppedRobert Pires for being aScorpio, instead saying that the 30-year-old Arsenal winger was declining and a bad influence on the squad.[35]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Mulhouse | 1 July 1984 | 30 June 1988 | 169 | 93 | 40 | 36 | 055.03 |
| Lyon | 1 July 1988 | 30 June 1993 | 202 | 73 | 62 | 67 | 036.14 |
| France U21 | 1 July 1993 | 11 July 2004 | 124 | 76 | 30 | 18 | 061.29 |
| France | 12 July 2004 | 30 June 2010 | 79 | 41 | 24 | 14 | 051.90 |
| Nantes | 26 December 2020 | 10 February 2021 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 000.00 |
| Total | 582 | 283 | 160 | 139 | 048.63 | ||
France
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