Raymond Domenech

Raymond Manuel Albert Domenech (born 24 January 1952) is a French football manager and former player.

Domenech replaced Marc Bourrier as coach of the France national under-21 football team in 1993.

His first major tournament was the 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which France hosted.

France had qualified after topping their group in qualification, nine points above second-placed Sweden.

At the tournament, France defeated Russia in the quarterfinals but lost to Italy in a penalty shootout at the semifinal stage.

Italy went on to win the final against Portugal.

France qualified for the 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after finishing first in their qualifying group.

France defeated Germany in the quarterfinals.

Italy again knocked out the French side at the semifinal stage, the lone goal coming from Francesco Totti.

Italy retained their title, defeating Spain in the final.

After finishing third at the 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, France qualified for the 1996 Olympics as one of the top five European nations.

France finished top of their group with victories over Australia and Saudi Arabia, and a draw with Spain.

At the quarterfinals, France were eliminated 2–1 by Portugal after a golden goal was scored from the penalty spot by José Calado.

France failed to qualify for the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after finishing second in their qualifying group behind Norway.

France's final game of qualifying was at home against Norway, with France having needed at least a draw to top their group.

Norway produced a 3–2 upset win to qualify above France.

Norway went on to finish third at the tournament after being eliminated by champions Spain in the semifinals.

Domenech was again unsuccessful in qualifying for the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

This time France topped their qualifying group and progressed to the playoffs, where they were drawn against Italy.

The first leg in France ended 1–1, and the second leg in Italy ended 1–1 after 90 minutes.

Italy would go on to be champions at the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Domenech briefly coached the France national under-20 football team at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.

During the group stage, France defeated Iran, and had draws with Paraguay and Ghana.

France progressed from the group stage after finishing second behind Ghana.

France qualified for the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after finishing first in their qualifying group and defeating Romania in the playoffs.

France were undefeated during qualifying.

France won all their group matches at the tournament against Czech Republic, Belgium and Greece.

France progressed to the final after defeating Switzerland in their semifinal.

France met Czech Republic again, but this time the Czech side were victorious in a penalty shootout after the game ended at 0–0 after extra time.

He managed the France national team from 2004 to 2010, reaching the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final.

France were dominant in the group stage of qualifying for the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

They finished first in their group with seven wins, one draw, no losses and no goals conceded.

They were drawn against Portugal in the playoffs and won the first leg in Portugal 2–1.

However, Portugal won 2–1 away from home in the second leg, sending the game to extra time.

Djibril Cissé had been sent off just before halftime.

There were no goals in extra time, so the match was decided by a penalty shootout.

He was dismissed after their elimination from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, for serious misconduct.

The game went into extra time where Andrea Pirlo produced the winning goal for Italy in the 110th minute.

France defeated Germany 3–2 in the Round of 16 thanks to a goal from Djibril Cissé in the 90+3rd minute.

France were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 3–1 loss to hosts and eventual champions Argentina.