Roger Lemerre
Roger Léon Maurice Lemerre-Desprez (born 18 June 1941) is a French professional football manager and former player. During his managerial career, he was in charge of three national teams: the French, Tunisian and Moroccan national football teams. He also managed numerous clubs in France, Tunisia, Turkey and Algeria. He is currently the head coach of Étoile du Sahel.
![]() Lemerre as manager of Morocco in 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Roger Léon Maurice Lemerre-Desprez[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 18 June 1941 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Bricquebec, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Defender | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1961–1969 | Sedan | 213 | (24) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1969–1971 | Nantes | 69 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1971–1973 | Nancy | 65 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1973–1975 | Lens | 57 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | 404 | (25) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1968–1971 | France | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams managed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1975–1978 | Red Star | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1978–1979 | Lens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1979–1981 | Paris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1981–1983 | Strasbourg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1983–1984 | Espérance Tunis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1985–1986 | Red Star | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1986–1996 | France (Army team) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1997 | Lens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998 | France (assistant coach) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998–2002 | France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2002–2008 | Tunisia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2008–2009 | Morocco | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2009–2010 | Ankaragücü | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012–2013 | CS Constantine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013–2014 | Étoile du Sahel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2016 | Sedan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018–2019 | Étoile du Sahel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Player career
![](../I/Roger_Lemerre_en_1970_(FC_Nantes).jpg.webp)
His professional playing career spanned 15 seasons, from 1961 to 1975: between 1961 and 1969 he played for Sedan and lost the Cup in 1965, before moving to Nantes (1968–1971), Nancy (1971–1973) and Lens (1973–1975). He won 6 caps for France between 1968 and 1971.
Manager career
Between 1975 and 1978, he was the coach of Red Star from Saint-Ouen, and then went back to RC Lens for a season as coach, before moving to Paris FC for two seasons. In the 1983–1984 season, he ran Espérance Sportive de Tunis in Tunisia. On his return to France, he again took up his post as Red Star manager.
For 10 seasons, he coached the French national military team, with whom he won the World Championships.
In 1997, he finished the season with Lens and saved it from relegation.
He assisted Aimé Jacquet in the French team's 1998 World Cup victory. This paved the way for him to take over as the national coach, winning Euro 2000 in Netherlands/Belgium and FIFA Confederations Cup next year. However, after the team suffered a stunning first-round exit in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he was sacked by the French Football Federation.[3]
Undeterred, the Tunisian Football Federation soon hired Lemerre to be the manager of their national side. There, he guided them to victory in the African Nations Cup in 2004 making him first coach in football history to win two different continental tournaments i.e. Euro 2000 and AFCON 2004, and led them to qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He was sacked in February 2008 following the team's exit from the 2008 African Cup of Nations in the quarter-finals.[4]
Lemerre was named the new head coach of Morocco national football team in May 2008 and took charge on 1 July.[5] He was fired on 9 July 2009, for disappointing results.[6] On 18 December 2009, he accepted a managing job at Ankaragücü on a 6-month deal that could be extended if both parties agreed.[7] Former Turkish international Ümit Özat was appointed as his assistant coach. In May 2010, despite the fact that Lemerre had turned the team around and possibly saved them from relegation, the club decided not to extend Lemerre's contract and he was replaced by his assistant Ümit Özat for season 2009/2010.
In December 2013, Lemerre agreed a six-month deal to take a coaching job at Tunisian team Étoile du Sahel.[8]
In January 2016 he became new manager of CS Sedan Ardennes.[9]
Honours
As manager
France
Tunisia
Étoile du Sahel
Orders
References
- "Décret du 24 juillet 1998 portant promotion et nomination" [Decree of 24 July 1998 on promotion and appointment]. Journal Officiel de la République Française (in French). 1998 (170): 11377. 25 July 1998. PREX9801917D. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- "Décret du 11 avril 2001 portant promotion et nomination" [Decree of 11 April 2001 on promotion and appointment]. Journal Officiel de la République Française (in French). 2001 (90): 5880. 15 April 2001. PREX0104793D. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- "Lemerre sacked as France coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 July 2002. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- "Lemerre sacked as Tunisia coach". Jp.soccerway.com. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
- Maroc-football.com. "Roger Lemerre takes over as Morocco coach". Maroc-football.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
- AFP (9 July 2009). "AFP: Maroc: Roger Lemerre a été officiellement remercié". Google. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
- "Lemerre new Ankaragücü coach". Ntvmsnbc.com. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
- "Roger Lemerre appointed coach of Etoile du Sahel". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
- "Roger Lemerre nouvel entraîneur de Sedan (officiel)". L'equipe. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- "EURO 2000 : L'ÉQUIPE DE FRANCE ÉTAIT-ELLE LA MEILLEURE DE L'HISTOIRE ?". cnews. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- "Souvenirs : à quoi ressemblaient les deux équipes de France vainqueurs de la Coupe des Confédérations en 2001 et 2003 ?". francefootball. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- "CAN 2004 : le chef d'oeuvre de Roger Lemerre avec la Tunisie". francefootball. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- "Roger Lemerre nouvel entraîneur de l'Etoile Sportive du Sahel". L'equipe. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- "COUPE ARABE DES CLUBS 2019: L'ETOILE DU SAHEL CHAMPIONNE". Africa Top Sports. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
External links
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