Raymond Domenech Biography

Raymond Domenech, born 24 January 1952 in Lyon, France, is a former French footballer and current coach. He is now working as head coach of FC Nantes. Raymond Domenech began his football career at Lyon, where he played for almost ten years, establishing himself as a legend at the club. After gaining recognition at Strasbourg, he went on to play for Paris Saint-Germain, Bordeaux, and Mulhouse, before deciding to end his playing career in 1986. With the French National Team, he played only eight matches.

After his retirement as a player, he immediately started to coach Mulhouse. In 1989, he was appointed as head coach at Lyon, where he remained for four years. He then took over the French Under-21 National Team in 1993, and was in charge of the boys for eleven years, achieving great success. He coached the French national football team at the 1996 Olympics during this period.

He became head coach of the senior French national team on July 12, 2004. He guided France to the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, where they lost to Italy on penalties and failed to win their second World Cup title.

However, before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Raymond Domenech had already decided that he would resign from his post as head coach of France national team after the World Cup. Laurent Blanc, the former defender of the 1998 World Cup-winning team and coach of Bordeaux at the time, took his place in the post.

All You Need to Know About Raymond Domenech Biography

After the Raymond Domenech era, France national team’s performances dropped and Laurent Blanc’s team played poorly in the competition, as they were knocked out in the group stage, picking up just one point. He returned to coaching ten years later when he was appointed as head coach o Nantes.

Raymond Domenech Information

Now that you know him better, in this section of

Raymond Domenech biography

, we will share the same general information about him such as

Raymond Domenech nationality

to let you know him even more. Stay tuned.

Raymond Domenech Bio

• Full Name: Raymond Manuel Albert Domenech

• Nickname: The Butcher

• Profession: Professional Coach

Raymond Domenech Physical Stats

• Weight: 70 Kg

• Height: 1.79 m

• Eye Color: Dark Brown

• Hair Color: Grey

Raymond Domenech Football Information

• Position: Full-Back

• Jersey Number: 3

• Professional Debut: 1969

Raymond Domenech Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 24 January 1952

• Birth Place: Lyon, France

• Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

• Nationality: French

Stay tuned to this section of

Raymond Domenech biography

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Raymond Domenech childhood

and more.

Raymond Domenech Early Life

Raymond Domenech played football with friends, both at the front of their building and on real pitches. It was on this more or less faded turf that he was able, one match at a time, to establish himself physically and mentally to find out what his real passion was football.

By the time he was eight years old, he signed a contract with the prestigious Olympique Lyonnais, and it was clear that this child had a football talent. He was more strong, more robust and, above all, more committed than the average child of his age, and he had the qualities to go far. Dedicated and very disciplined, he learned his trade as a young footballer.

However, his technical weaknesses soon made him feel that he needed to work harder to succeed. He started out as a striker, but as the years went by he moved down to become a full-back. Albert Domenech, his younger brother (who also became a professional), was more technically gifted, which frustrated Raymond Domenech. However, his determination and desire to be successful were to become stronger qualities than his talent.

Gradually, he progressed through the youth ranks and moved closer to his dream of becoming a professional footballer. He attended school, without passion, but with the same commitment. Despite his great ability, he had to repeat his third year. He later failed to pass his baccalauréat as he did not take the philosophy exams the day after the French Cup final he had played in. In contrast, on the pitch, Raymond Domenech made rapid and good progress.

Stay tuned to this section of

Raymond Domenech biography

as we will share some information about his OL playing career.

Olympique Lyonnais

When he was 18 years old, Raymond Domenech made his debut in the professional squad of Olympique Lyonnais. As a result of a lot of self-imposed extra training, his early maturity and above-average physical qualities, he became an important part of Aimé Mignot's team from the very first games.

Between 1970 and 1977, Raymon Domenech was a key player of the Olympique Lyonnais team, where he played a total of 293 league matches for the club and also scored 11 goals. It was with the Olympique Lyonnais that he won the French Cup in 1973.

RC Strasbourg

Gilbert Gress wanted Patrick Battiston to come to Alsace, but Battiston decided to stay at

. Instead, Raymond Domenech was brought in. Not being his first choice, and after having struggled with him when he was a player, the two men had a difficult first encounter. However, Gress needed an experienced player and Domenech was seeking to relaunch his career, both of which were common interests that would cement their relationship.

Domenech was acclaimed by the fans at the Meinau stadium for his combative nature and his discipline, but he was less and less aggressive and became more moderate. During his first season, he enjoyed the confidence of the coach and played 30 games in the championship, finishing third in the league with

.

Domenech played a total of 157 league matches for Strasbourg in four seasons he spent there and managed to score five goals in between.

Later playing career

In the 1981/82 season, Raymond Domenech moved to the

club, but he only stayed there for a season, playing 22 matches and scoring one goal. He later moved to Girondins de Bordeaux, and in two seasons at the club, played a total of 51 matches and scored 3 goals for them. His last club was FC Mulhouse, where he signed as a player coach only played 13 matches in two seasons, before ending his playing career in 1986.

Raymond Domenech Profile

Former international Raymond Domenech signed as a player coach with the Mulhouse club in 1984. Domenech began his coaching career at Mulhouse. In that same year, Raymond Hild, nicknamed Max, arrived as head of training. He would remain there until 1991. In that season, it all came down to the last day. They travelled to play against

AC, then the joint leader of Group A with 50 points.

With a 1-0 defeat, they went into the playoffs, only to be beaten twice by Stade Rennais. The next three seasons were similar: in 1985-1986, Mulhouse won the pre-playoff against Olympique Lyonnais, and then the play-off against Olympique Alès, only to lose to AS Nancy-Lorraine in the D1/D2 play-off. In the 1986-87 season, Mulhouse was defeated in the play-offs by Olympique Lyonnais, second in group B.

Olympique Lyonnais

In 1988, Domenech became coach of Olympique Lyonnais, appointed by Jean-Michel Aulas. At the time, the club was in the second division for five seasons. Within a year, Raymond Domenech helped the club climb back up to the first division by winning the French second division championship.

The club returned to Europe at the end of the 1990/1991 season when they finished 5th in the French top flight. Raymond Domenech then hired Robert Duverne, who later became the fitness coach of the French national team.

Stay tuned to this section of Raymond Domenech biography as we will share some information about as coach of France U21.

French U-21 national team

In 1993, Raymond Domenech replaced Marc Bourrier as coach of the French U-21 team, which consisted of the players born between 1971 and 1981. Under his management, the French U-21s reached the semi-finals of the 1994 European U-21 Championship with players who would eventually go on to become world champions in 1998, including Christophe Dugarry, Lilian Thuram and

, and Claude Makelele. They were eliminated in a penalty shoot-out by Italy, the eventual winners of the tournament, after a 0-0 draw.

The two sides played again at the same stage of the competition in 1996. Most of the French squad was born in 1973-1974, with the future world and European champions Vincent Candela, Robert Pirès and Sylvain Wiltord among them.

They were accompanied by Patrick Vieira, born in 1976. Francesco Totti's goal gave Italy yet another victory and they went on to win the final against Spain. Nevertheless, the French U-21s qualified for the 1996 Olympic football tournament. They played out a quarter-final draw with

and were eliminated in extra time.

France U21 team finished second in their group in the 1998 Euro qualifiers and missed out on qualification for the final tournament. Several future internationals were included in the 1975-1976 generation, notably Ludovic Giuly, Laurent Robert and Patrick Vieira. They were joined by Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, born in 1977, and goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau, who was born in 1979.

The French team finished top of their group in the qualifying round of the Euro 2000 tournament and played Italy in the play-off. Among the U21s born in 1977-1978 were the future world champions Henry and Trezeguet, and also Willy Sagnol and Mikaël Silvestre. The 1979-born Nicolas Anelka and Zoumana Camara were two of the outclassed players. The Italian U-21s won the second leg in Taranto in extra time and advanced to the finals at the expense of Les Bleuets.

The French U21 team went on to beat Spain in the 2002 qualifiers and defeated

in the play-offs. Some of the players born in 1979-1980 who took part in the Euro 2002 tournament included future internationals Jean-Alain Boumsong, Julien Escudé and Sidney Govou. The players born in 1981 and 1982, Djibril Cissé and Philippe Mexès, were featured as outclassed players. The 'Bleuets' won the semi-final against Switzerland and then faced the Czech Republic. Following a 0-0 draw in the final, the Czech U-21s won the tournament in a penalty shoot-out.

The 1981-1982 generation participated in the Euro 2004 qualifiers. The team was made up of future internationals Djibril Cissé, Patrice Évra and Philippe Mexès. The 1984-born Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama-Pongolle were among the outclassed players. The French U21s finished top of their qualifying group ahead of Cyprus and were knocked out in the play-offs by Portugal.

The French team won the first leg 2-1 but lost the second leg with the same score after Djibril Cissé was sent off. There were no goals in extra time and Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal finally won on penalties.

He was the head coach of France U21s in a total of 124 matches between 1993 and 1994, where he managed to win 76 matches, drawn 30 and lost on 18 occasions, with a good win ratio of 61.29 percent.

France National Team

Already considered for the post in 2002, Raymond Domenech was a candidate to replace Jacques Santini after Euro 2004, along with Jean Tigana and Laurent Blanc. As a member of the DTN (National Technical Director) and also benefiting from the support of 1998 world champion Aimé Jacquet, he was ultimately chosen by the Federal Council. Domenech was appointed coach of the French senior team on 12 July 2004 by French Football Federation President Claude Simonet.

At the time of his appointment, he insisted on the need to change the way the French team operated following the failures of 2002 and 2004. As a result, Domenech changed the entire staff and re-established certain rules that were sometimes misunderstood by the players.

For his first match, in Rennes, he got a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina on 18 August 2004. His first goalscorer was Peguy Luyindula. Nevertheless, an event after the match, which was revealed by the press, marked this first match: Domenech imposed his own self-criticism on every player in the dressing room. Some players were surprised and even refused to accept it, like Fabien Barthez.

Domenech's appointment to the team coincided with the international retirement of several key players, including former heroes of the 1998

and Euro 2000, including Lilian Thuram, Bixente Lizarazu, Marcel Desailly and Zinédine Zidane.

As a result, Raymond Domenech needed to rebuild the national team while ensuring qualification for the 2006 World Cup. To do so, the coach decided to rely on a new generation of players such as Abidal, Évra, Givet, Squilacci, Pedretti, Mavuba, Malouda and Cissé, while at the same time keeping certain key players such as Barthez, Gallas, Pirès, Giuly, Henry, Wiltord and Vieira, whom he named captain.

The beginning of his term of office was sluggish: Les Bleus had drawn several games, among them four 0-0 draws at the Stade de

.

Halfway through his term, France was fourth in the rankings. Domenech was responsible for the return of three former players in August 2005: Zinedine Zidane who took over the captaincy, Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele, who were called up for the match against Côte d'Ivoire (3-0). As a result of these returns, the French team managed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup after a narrow victory against Ireland (1-0) and a final match against Cyprus (4-0).

Domenech suffered his first defeat against

(1-2) in a friendly match on 1 March 2006, not long before the World Cup. His list of 23 players for the World Cup was announced on 14 May. Domenech finally found the right tactical organisation in 4-2-3-1 with a defence composed of Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas and Abidal, a defensive midfield pairing with Vieira and Makelele, with three attacking midfielders Malouda, Zidane and Ribéry/Wiltord behind the leading striker Thierry Henry, thus abandoning the 4-4-2 of the beginning of his term.

2006 World Cup

For the World Cup, Raymond Domenech brought in Robert Duverne, who joined the French team's technical staff to restore certain players to good physical condition, in particular the senior players in their thirties, such as Barthez, Thuram, Vieira, Makelele, Zidane, Dhorasoo and Wiltord. As a result, Les Bleus gradually gained strength until the final.

Following a very difficult group stage, with two draws against Switzerland (0-0) and South Korea (1-1) and a win against Togo (2-0), the French team improved from match to match. They defeated Spain (3-1) in the round of 16, widely regarded as the most successful match under Domenech, Brazil (1-0) in the quarter-final, and Portugal (1-0) in the semi-final. Many times before the tournament, Domenech had announced the date of the World Cup final in Berlin on 9 July 2006, and the coach won his bet.

France managed to do so but lost to Italy on penalties in a match notable for the 'panenka' penalty and Zinédine Zidane's expulsion in his last official match. With this result, he renegotiated his contract as a coach, which was extended until 2010.

The French team began the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with a 3-1 victory over world champions Italy on 6 September 2006 at the Stade de France. In this qualifying phase, the coach relied on the players who had taken part in the 2006 World Cup and introduced new players such as Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Patrice Évra. Meanwhile, he closed the door on certain players, notably Ludovic Giuly, David Trezeguet and Philippe Mexès, despite their good performances at club level.

Domenech was suspended by UEFA because of his criticism of the refereeing during a match against Italy's U-21 team a few years earlier, and after a final round of qualifying matches, France lost twice to Scotland and then drew with Italy in the return match. Following a final 2-2 draw with Ukraine, France qualified for the finals.

Euro 2008

France was placed in the toughest group at Euro 2008, but they were held to a 0-0 draw by Romania in their first match and then beaten 4-1 by a brilliant Dutch team, despite the return of Thierry Henry. A 2-0 defeat by Italy ended the drama and eliminated France. Moreover, Domenech was unable to manage the case of Patrick Vieira, who was injured and could not play a single match when he had taken him to Switzerland.

The French press and the foreign press, particularly Italian and British, criticised Domenech for the failure of France at the Euro. In fact, even before the elimination against Italy, The Times gave him the title of "the worst coach of the Euro". For its part, the Italian press was ironic, like the Corriere dello Sport, which expressed its gratitude for having had the "brilliant idea" of not selecting Trezeguet.

Meanwhile, in France, the issue of his continued appointment as coach was raised, but the French Football Federation (FFF) Federal Council of 3 July 2008 - despite President Jean-Pierre Escalettes speaking of a 'resounding failure' - retained him, as his contract runs until 2010. At the end of the meeting, however, the FFF spokesperson stated that 'the terms of his mission and the management of the national team' were to be redefined.

He also committed himself to change his style of communication. This led to a new wave of criticism from some media and some former members of France 98 who were lobbying for Didier Deschamps' appointment. The choices made by the coach were then being questioned, and his team selection and coaching were sometimes judged to be inadequate.

As a result of this criticism, the French team suffered a 3-1 defeat to Austria in Vienna in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. The press went wild against Raymond Domenech and demanded his dismissal. The French team won against Serbia (2-1) at the Stade de France before securing a miraculous draw in Romania (2-2). This temporarily saved the manager.

Subsequently, the French team was humiliated against Messi's Argentina (2-0) in a friendly at the Velodrome but defeated Lithuania 0-1 on two occasions, allowing Les Bleus to climb to second place in the group, two points behind Serbia.

Following two poor matches against Nigeria (1-0 loss) and Turkey (1-0 win) in June, Domenech's Les Bleus defeated the Faroe Islands away from home by 1-0, with André-Pierre Gignac scoring. With this victory, the French team moved up to 9th place in the FIFA rankings and came within 5 points of Serbia for qualification for the 2010 World Cup with one more match to play.

After a 1-1 draw at home against Romania on 7 September 2009, which practically obliged the French team to go through the play-offs to qualify, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported that Thierry Henry "in the name of the group" had questioned Domenech's coaching before the match. The French team qualified in November after a play-off match against Ireland, which was won thanks to a handball by Thierry Henry on Gallas' goal, sparking a huge controversy.

As a result of this qualification, the issue of Domenech's dismissal was brought up again. In addition, a few days later, France Football weekly revealed that Domenech would be paid a bonus of 862,000 euros, although he denied it, Le Monde later confirmed that he would be paid 826,222 euros in qualification bonuses by the FFF.

The French team was defeated at the Stade de France by La Roja (0-2) in the first match of the year against Spain. Domenech had not yet found the right formula for his attack, with Ribery, Henry and Malouda competing on the left flank, while Anelka and Gourcuff's performance was less than satisfactory.

Domenech revealed his 23-man squad for the World Cup on 11 May 2010. He decided not to take his captain Patrick Vieira to South Africa, and also Benzema and Nasri for their behaviour. After a victory against Costa Rica (2-1), Les Bleus draw against Tunisia (1-1) and lost 1-0 against China, ranked 84th in the FIFA rankings.

France drew with Uruguay (0-0) in their first game of the World Cup. In their second match against Mexico, they lost 2-0 and in their final match, the French team lost 2-1 to South Africa. This meant that the French team was knocked out in the group stage of the competition. Domenech was again severely criticized by the press, who blamed him for what was seen as a sporting failure coupled with a moral crisis.

In fact, France's performance in the World Cup was marred by some highly publicized incidents: the dismissal of Nicolas Anelka after he insulted his coach in what Domenech called a simple 'locker room incident', the 'hunt for a traitor' started by the captain Patrice Évra, the boycott of a team training session, the resignation of an executive of the French Football Association, and Domenech's reluctance to shake the hand of the South African coach Carlos Alberto Parreira at the end of the last match.

Domenech resigned from his position as national coach in turmoil after the defeat to South Africa, with his contract ending on 31 July 2010. He was replaced by

. Raymond Domenech managed France in 79 matches (41 wins, 24 draws and 14 defeats) between 2004 and 2010, overtaking Michel Hidalgo's previous record of 75 matches.

Raymond Domenech was officially dismissed by the French Football Federation on 5 September 2010 for "serious misconduct" following his attitude in South Africa, when he "refused to shake hands with Carlos Alberto Parreira, his South African counterpart" as well as for "his management of the Anelka affair".

FC Nantes

Raymond Domenech has been the subject of numerous debates since 2010 regarding the future team he will coach: he was linked with Standard Liege, the Algerian national team, AS Saint-Étienne and the Italian women's team.

He was appointed coach of

on 26 December 2020 until the end of the 2020-2021 season, while the club was at the bottom of the

table in sixteenth place and just three points ahead of the first relegation zone. Following a 1-2 defeat to AS Monaco on 31 January 2021, he became the first FC Nantes coach who failed to win any of his first five Ligue 1 matches (three draws, two defeats). On 11 February 2021, he was sacked after a poor record of four draws and four defeats with no wins.

Stay tuned to this section of Raymond Domenech biography as we will share some information about his coaching style.

Style of Play

Raymond Domenech is among the coaches who like to play with tactics and we usually see him try many systems during his management. In France national team, as we mentioned before, he was always experimenting with new systems of play and the French team played with many formations, including 4-4-2 double 6, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 Attacking and a few others.

Reception

Before the 2006 World Cup, Domenech was a well-respected coach and many pundits regarded him as one of the best French coaches of his generation, however, the poor performances of his team in the following years deteriorated his reputation as a good coach, which resulted in a ten-year absence from coaching after his dismissal from the French team.

Raymond Domenech outside Football

Raymond Domenech is fond of (and an actor in) theatre. He played himself in 2007 in a scene in the film Le Cœur des Hommes 2 directed by Marc Esposito, but this scene was cut in the editing.

He regularly performed on stage between 1998 and 2004 with the Compagnie Le Trimaran of his friend, author-director Stéphane Tournu-Romain. He has performed in four shows: "Temps de Foot", in which he played the character of Zhen, "Clair Obscur", "Et Demain la lumière" as Corporal Barnabé, a show about the life of a squad during the Great War, and "L'Echo de la Mer", where he was the narrator in the company of the sailor Michel Desjoyaux.

During this period, he was involved in more than sixty performances. It is worth noting that in 2002 he performed in England in Shakespeare's language the adaptation of "Clair Obscur", the narrator of which was Gareth Southgate, captain of the English national football team.

Raymond Domenech Personal Life

In this section of Raymond Domenech biography, we will take a look into his personal life, sharing some information about things like

Raymond Domenech religion

and

Raymond Domenech life story

.

Family, Children, and Relationships

His wife Estelle Denis is a host and journalist on the channel L'Équipe where she runs L'équipe d'Estelle. She has also hosted 100 % Foot and 100 % Mag on M6, Touche pas à mon sport on C8 and Le Tournoi des As on Paris Première.

Domenech and Estelle have two children: a daughter, Victoire, born on 11 July 2004 (the night Raymond Domenech was appointed coach of the French national team) and a son named Merlin, born on 25 July 2007. Domenech proposed to Estelle on 17 June 2008 at 10.45pm on the M6 channel in front of millions of viewers, just minutes after Les Bleus lost the Euro 2008 qualifier to Italy (2-0).

Philanthropy

Domenech has sometimes participated in different charity projects. He is a partner in Time for the Planet, a company that works to combat climate change in France and abroad.

Legal Issues

On 3rd November 2010, he filed a claim with the industrial tribunal for €2.9 million against the French Football Federation for "redundancy payments - €400,000 with back pay" and also for "compensation for professional and moral prejudice, evaluated at three years' salary". He received €975,000 gross (€575,000 based on years of seniority and €400,000 as an "additional transactional indemnity") and waived his €150,000 image rights bonus from the 2010 World Cup, as a result of an agreement with the FFF on 4 August 201149.

Raymond Domenech Career Statistics

In this section of Raymond Domenech biography, we will take a look into the player’s career on the international and club level. Stay tuned.

Club

In a 16-year career, Domenech has played a total of 543 matches and scored 20 goals for many clubs in France.

International

He has also played eight matches for the French national team, without scoring any goals. His last match for France was in a 6-0 winning friendly match against the United States on 2 May 1979.

Managerial

In a total of 582 matches as head coach of different teams, Domenech has a win ratio of 48.63 percent, with 283 wins, 160 draws and 139 defeats.

Raymond Domenech Honors

As a player, he has won the 1973 Coupe de France with Olympique Lyonnais and with PSG on 1982. He has also won the French Ligue 1 with RC Strasbourg and

.

His only title as a manager was the French Division 2 with Olympique Lyonnais in 1989. He was also runner up in the 2006 World Cup.

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