Didier Deschamps (born 15 October 1968 in Bayonne) is a former French football player who captained France to victories in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and . More recently, he has been involved in football management. He was the head coach of AS Monaco in France's Ligue 1, leading Monaco to its first UEFA Champions League final in 2004, until his resignation on 19 September 2005 after a poor start to the season. On July 10 2006, Deschamps was named head coach of Juventus.

Club career

Deschamps started his football career at an amateur club, Aviron Bayonnais whilst still at school. His potential was spotted by scouts from Nantes, for whom he signed in April 1983. Deschamps made his league debut on 27 September 1985.

Transferred to Olympique Marseille in 1989, Deschamps spent a season with Bordeaux in 1990 before returning to Marseille. In this second spell with Marseille Deschamps gained his first honours. As well as winning two French league titles in 1991 and 1992, Deschamps was part of the Marseille team which became the first, (and so far only) French winners of the Champions League in 1993. He is the youngest captain to do so.

In 1994, Deschamps joined Italian giants Juventus, with whom he won three Italian titles, one Italian Cup, two Italian Supercups and his second Champions League title (in 1996).

After Juventus, Deschamps spent a season in England with Chelsea, winning the FA Cup. He finished his playing career in Spain, spending a season with Valencia before retiring in 2001.

International career

Receiving his first international call-up for Michel Platini in 1989 (against Yugoslavia), Deschamps started his international career in what was a dark time for the French team, failing to qualify for the World Cup in both 1990 and 1994. Deschamps first captained France in 1996 in a friendly match against Germany as a warmup for .

In 1998, Deschamps captained France as they won 1998 FIFA World Cup, performing an integral role in the team. Propelled by the momentum of this triumph, Deschamps also captained France as they won . Following the tournament Deschamps announced his retirement from international football, making his final appearance in a ceremonial match against a FIFA XI in August 2002. At the time of his retirement Deschamps held the record for the most appearances for France, though this has since been surpassed by Marcel Desailly, Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram. In total, Deschamps earned 103 caps and scored four goals. Deschamps was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Deschamps was once - derisively - described by Eric Cantona as "the water-carrier" by which Cantona meant that Deschamps only existed to pass the ball to more talented players. This description masked a very valuable player to a number of top teams.

Honours

• 1998 FIFA World Cup winner
• winner
• Champions League winner 1993, 1996
• Intercontinental cup winner 1996
• European Super Cup winner 1996
• Ligue 1 winner 1991, 1992, 1993
• Serie A winner 1995, 1997, 1998
• Italian Cup winner 1995
• Italian Super Cup winner 1995, 1997
• F.A. Cup winner 2000

French footballers | French International players | FC Girondins de Bordeaux players | FC Nantes Atlantique players | Olympique de Marseille players | Juventus F.C. players | Chelsea F.C. players | Valencia CF footballers | La Liga footballers | Basque footballers | FIFA 100 | FIFA World Cup winners | FIFA World Cup-winning captains | French football managers | 1968 births | Living people

ديدييه ديشامب | দিদিয়ের দেশোঁ | Didier Deschamps | Didier Deschamps | Didier Deschamps | Didier Deschamps | Didier Deschamps | Didier Deschamps | ディディエ・デシャン | Didier Deschamps | Didier Deschamps | Didier Deschamps | 迪迪埃·德尚