Mickaël Debève

Mickaël Debève (born 1 December 1970) is a former French footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently assistant manager of Ligue 2 side RC Lens.

Mickaël Debève
Personal information
Full name Mickaёl Debève
Date of birth (1970-12-01) 1 December 1970
Place of birth Abbeville, France
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Lens (assistant)
Youth career
Toulouse
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1994 Toulouse 139 (14)
1994–2002 Lens 198 (14)
1999–2000 → Le Havre (loan) 27 (2)
2002 Middlesbrough 4 (0)
2002–2004 Amiens 60 (1)
2004–2008 Abbeville
Total 428 (31)
Teams managed
2004–2008 Abbeville
2018 Toulouse
2018– Lens (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Born in Abbeville, Debève began his career at Toulouse FC; after a slow start - only four first-team appearances in three seasons, he became a main squad member. His first match in the top level came on 5 June 1987, in a 1–0 home win against RC Lens.

The most important part of Debève's career was spent at Lens, who he helped win the national league in 1998, adding the league cup the following year.[1] In the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, he scored the game's only goal at Wembley, against English champions Arsenal, making Lens the first club from France to win at that ground.[2]

After totalling more than 400 official matches in his country, Debève moved to England with Middlesbrough FC in February 2002, arriving for free and rejoining former Lens mate Franck Queudrue.[3] He made his debut as a substitute in the FA Cup 6th round victory over Everton.[4] He was then thrust into the starting line up for the semi final against Arsenal due to various injuries, making only his second Boro appearance against the team he had knocked out of the UEFA Champions League four years earlier. However, he could not prevent Boro losing 1–0.[5] He left in the summer, and closed out his career in France's second level, with SC Amiens.

Managerial career

Immediately after retiring, Debève became a manager, starting as player-coach with hometown side SC Abbevillois Football.

Debève was named manager of Toulouse, the club where he started his playing career, on 23 January 2018, replacing Pascal Dupraz. Upon his appointment, Toulouse was 19th in Ligue 1 on 20 points from 22 matches (5 wins, 5 draws, 12 losses), and facing relegation. In his first match in charge of Toulouse, they lost 2–0 away to Bourg-en-Bresse in the 2017-18 Coupe de France Round of 32.[6]

References
  1. "Finale Coupe de la Ligue 1998/99 RC Lens - FC Metz". sitercl.com. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  2. "Lens see off Arsenal's Euro hopes". The Guardian. 25 November 1998. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  3. Debeve signs for Boro; BBC Sport, 27 February 2002
  4. "Middlesbrough thrash Everton". BBC. 10 March 2002. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  5. "Arsenal break brave Boro". BBC. 14 April 2002. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  6. "Fiche Toulouse Football Club". L'Équipe. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
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