Roger Lemerre, tribute and emotion

If the announced departure of Didier Deschamps should give rise to a large upheaval at the head of the French team, the map of continuity had been played in 1998 to replace Aimé Jacquet.

Didier Deschamps surprised everyone in early January, announcing his departure after the next World Cup. Since then, there has been a lot of question of his succession and a name has been obvious for many, that of Zinedine Zidane, without a club since the end of his adventure on the bench of Real Madrid.

The situation had been different at the end of the 1998 World Cup. Aimé Jacquet had also announced his departure upstream of the competition and the leaders of French football had envisaged many tracks before playing the card of continuity by naming Roger Lemerre.

The former Sedan player did not appear as the priority target of Claude Simonet of the French Football Federation, who preferred Jean Tigana or Guy Roux. But the two men were under contract and neither AS Monaco nor AJ Auxerre had wanted to release their coach. Jean-Claude Suaudeau and Raymond Domenech had also been mentioned but Aimé Jacquet, new national technical director (DTN), had pushed for his former assistant.

Roger Lemerre, a logical choice for players

“I am proud to continue the work undertaken by Aimé, which revolves around requirement, confidence and emulation, could well entrust the native of the Channel. The bar is placed very high, I am aware, and it will be difficult to do better but I have no particular fear. Motivation will come on its own by empowering everyone. »»

By his own admission, Roger Lemerre did not expect such a trajectory, he who had to settle for the military French team for more than a decade before a short dovecote in RC Lens, in 1997. “You know, I'm not a complicated guy. I would never have thought that I was going to have responsibility for the French team. It is a real honor ”, had he insisted.

The appointment of Roger Lemerre delights players from the French team. “It was fluid, he had lived with us 98. He knew how this group worked. He was part of the group. He did not come from the outside, this guy was part of the group. Me, when I had Roger Lemerre coach, I was happy like everything ”recently told Fabien Barthez to the L'Equipe chain.

“We didn't surprise us. No player was surprised and no player questioned the fact that he was appointed successor to Aimé. It was logical “abounded Emmanuel Petit. The beginnings were however complicated, the Blues having to work to leave the qualification group for Euro 2000.