Roger Lemerre
Personal information
Full name	Roger León Maurice Lemerre-Desprez
Date of birth	18 June 1941 (1941-06-18) (age 68)
Place of birth	Bricquebec, France
Playing position	Defender (retired)
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1961–1969 1969–1971 1971–1973 1973–1975	Sedan Nantes Nancy Lens Total	213 (24) 069 0(1) 65 0(0) 057 0(0) 508 (25)
National team
1968–1971	France	006 0(0)
Teams managed
1975–1978 1978–1979 1979–1981 1981–1983 1983–1984 1985–1986 1986–1996 1997 1998 1998–2002 2002–2008 2008–2009	Red Star Lens Paris FC Strasbourg ES Tunis Red Star France (Army team) Lens France (assistant coach) France Tunisia Morocco
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Roger Lemerre (born 18 June, 1941 in Bricquebec, Manche) is a French football manager and former football player. He has managed the French national side, and is currently without a club. He last managed the Morocco national football team, being fired on July 9, 2009.^[1]

[edit] Player career

His professional playing career spanned 15 seasons, from 1961 to 1975: between 1961 and 1969 he played for Sedan and lose 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, one of which he gained in a 5-0 drubbing by England.

[edit] 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. However, after the team suffered a stunning first-round exit in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he was dismissed by the French Football Federation.

Undeterred, Tunisia's national 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, 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.^[2]

Lemerre was named the new head coach of Morocco in May 2008 and took charge on July 1.^[3] He was fired on July 9, 2009, for disappointing results.^[4]

[edit] Career Outline

As player

• 1961-1969: Sedan Club Sportif Sedan Ardennes
• 1969-1971: FC Nantes
• 1971-1973: AS Nancy-Lorraine
• 1973-1975: RC Lens

As manager

• 1975-1978: Red Star
• 1978-1979: Lens
• 1979-1981: Paris FC
• 1981-1983: RC Strasbourg
• 1983-1984: Espérance Tunis
• 1985-1986: Red Star
• 1986-1996: French military team and French A national side
• 1997: RC Lens
• 1998-2002: French A national side: 53 games (34 victories) 11 draws et 8 defeats, 106/43

• 2002-2008: Tunisian national side
• 2008-2009: Moroccan national side (from July 1 2008 to 8 July 2009)

[edit] Honours

As player

• Etoile d'or France Football: 1966, 1968, 1969

As manager

• Military World Cup champions: 1995
• European Football Championship champion: 2000
• Confederations Cup: 2001
• African Nations Cup: 2004

[edit] Private life

Lemerre married in October 2003, without the press knowing.

[edit] Lemerre and press

During his leadership of the Moroccan football team (The Atlas Lions) Lemerre always kept distance with the press. Refusing to give information and prohibiting players to give interviews during the Moroccan critical period of 2010 world cup qualification, led to boycott his after-match interviews by the press. Some Moroccan newspapers described him as the enemy of the press (Almountakhab Arabic article newspaper). Lemerre prohibited some Moroccan fans who come to watch their national team on the Chantier area (near Paris, France) while preparing for next qualifications; the fans addressed a protest letter to the Moroccan Footbal Federation.

“The Moroccan Royal Federation of Football Association (FRMF) has decided to separate amicably from the national team coach, Roger Lemerre,” announced the FRMF without giving further explanation about the exact amount given to Lemerre to quit national team coaching.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• French Profile and pictures of Roger Lemerre
• Player profile on French federation site
• Coach profile on French federation site

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Berti Vogts	UEFA European Football Championship Winning Coach 2000	Succeeded by Otto Rehhagel
Preceded by Manuel Lapuente	FIFA Confederations Cup winning manager 2001	Succeeded by Jacques Santini

Roger Lemerre international tournaments v • d • e France squad – UEFA Euro 2000 Winners (2nd title) 1 Lama • 2 Candela • 3 Lizarazu • 4 Vieira • 5 Blanc • 6 Djorkaeff • 7 Deschamps • 8 Desailly • 9 Anelka • 10 Zidane • 11 Pirès • 12 Henry • 13 Wiltord • 14 Micoud • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Petit • 18 Leboeuf • 19 Karembeu • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Dugarry • 22 Ramé • Coach: Lemerre v • d • e France squad – 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Ramé • 2 Sagnol • 3 Lizarazu • 4 Vieira • 5 Gillet • 6 Djorkaeff • 7 Pirès • 8 Desailly • 9 Anelka • 10 Carrière • 11 Wiltord • 12 Coupet • 13 Silvestre • 14 Née • 15 Bréchet • 16 Dacourt • 17 Marlet • 18 Leboeuf • 19 Karembeu • 20 Camara • 21 Dugarry • 22 Robert • 23 Landreau • Coach: Lemerre v • d • e France squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Ramé • 2 Candela • 3 Lizarazu • 4 Vieira • 5 Christanval • 6 Djorkaeff • 7 Makélélé • 8 Desailly • 9 Cissé • 10 Zidane • 11 Wiltord • 12 Henry • 13 Silvestre • 14 Boghossian • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Petit • 18 Leboeuf • 19 Sagnol • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Dugarry • 22 Micoud • 23 Coupet • Coach: Lemerre v • d • e Tunisia squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Boumnijel • 2 Saidi • 3 Essediri • 4 El Abdy • 5 Jaziri • 6 Trabelsi • 7 Mhedhebi • 8 Nafti • 9 Guemamdia • 10 Ghodhbane • 11 Santos • 12 Mnari • 13 Namouchi • 14 Chedli • 15 Jaïdi • 16 Fadhel • 17 Ben Saada • 18 Ben Achour • 19 Ayari • 20 Clayton • 21 Jemâa • 22 Kasraoui • 23 Hadj Massaoued • Coach: Lemerre v • d • e Tunisia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Boumnijel • 2 Essediri • 3 Haggui • 4 Yahia • 5 Jaziri • 6 Trabelsi • 7 Guemamdia • 8 Nafti • 9 Chikhaoui • 10 Ghodhbane • 11 Santos • 12 Mnari • 13 Bouazizi • 14 Chedli • 15 Jaïdi • 16 Nefzi • 17 Ben Saada • 18 Jemmali • 19 Ayari • 20 Namouchi • 21 Saidi • 22 Kasraoui • 23 Melliti • Coach: Lemerre v • d • e Tunisia squad – 2008 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Kasraoui • 2 Ghezal • 3 Haggui • 4 El Abdy • 5 El Bekri • 6 Felhi • 7 Ben Saada • 8 Nafti • 9 Chikhaoui • 10 Zaiem • 11 Santos • 12 Mnari • 13 Ben Frej • 14 Zouagi • 15 Jaïdi • 16 Mathlouthi • 17 Jemâa • 18 Mikari • 19 Meriah • 20 Ben Dhifallah • 21 Traoui • 22 Nefzi • 23 Chermiti • Coach: Lemerre

[edit] References