Benoît Pedretti (born 12 November 1980) is a French

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player who is the manager of Nancy. A

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he was a deep-lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

well-known for his wide range of passing. He started his professional career at

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

, and played there from 1999 to 2004. Following brief stints with

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

where he spent one season each he joined

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

in 2006. In 2011 he left the club for

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

before moving to

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

in 2013. His last stint was at Nancy, from 2015 to 2018. At international level, Pedretti gained 22

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the France national team between 2002 and 2005.

Club career

Sochaux

Pedretti began his career at

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard (; commonly referred to as FCSM or simply Sochaux) is a Football in France, French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Championnat N ...

in 1999, in the club's youth system, and in the same year, he played his first professional match. Sochaux finished the season in fourth place in the Division 2 missing out on promotion to the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. The following season, Pedretti, despite his inexperience, became a mainstay of the team taking part in all matches and thereby contributing to Sochaux's championship in the Division 2 in 2001. He became a regular first team player in the

2002–03 Ligue 1 For the 2002–03 season, the French Division 1 was renamed as Ligue 1 and was expanded to contain 20 clubs, which played 38 matches against each other, rather than the 34 matches in previous seasons. Lyon won the 2002–03 Ligue 1 season of the ...

season making 35 league appearances and scoring 3 goals. The team also had a strong cup run that year, reaching the final of the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

, but losing 4–1 to Monaco. Pedretti featured in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

with Sochaux the following year as they qualified for European football. However they struggled to make any significant impact on the competition.

Marseille

Pedretti then moved to

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

for a transfer fee of €4.5 million in 2004. At Marseille, he found it difficult to cement his place in the starting line-up in a season marked by instability at the club with many players coming and going and coach

José Anigo José Anigo (born 15 April 1961) is a French professional football manager and former player. Career Anigo was born in Marseille, and after a tough childhood went on to play for his home town club for eight years where he established a reputatio ...

being replaced by

Philippe Troussier Philippe Omar Troussier,October's ten – Religious conversions
...

during the season.

Lyon

Pedretti made 31 appearances in all competitions before moving to

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

in 2005 for €7 million after one season at Marseille. He was again used sparingly at the club which at the time had fierce competition for midfield places. Pedretti only amassed 21 appearances in all competitions and was often denied a place by the likes of Florent Malouda and

Juninho Pernambucano Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior (born 30 January 1975), commonly known as Juninho Pernambucano or simply Juninho, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who was most recently the Director of football, sportin ...

spending much time on the bench. He made his Champions League debut but was involved in only 21 league games in his only season for Lyon.

Auxerre

Pedretti again moved, this time to

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...

for a €6 million fee in 2006 after he decided to make a fresh start. This move gave Pedretti the first team action he had desired with him being a mainstay in their midfield for several years. During his time at the club he featured in the

and the Champions League. During the subsequent 2007–08 season, he became captain of the "AJA", following the departure of Benoît Cheyrou to Marseille. He continued to show good performances, especially during the quarterfinals of the League Cup where he scored a decisive goal in stoppage time against his former team Marseille. With multiple injuries keeping the Auxerre captain sidelined for several months during the 2010–11 season, Pedretti participated in 20 league games. After the end of the season, Pedretti stated his desire to leave Auxerre with league title holders

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

being his preferred club. Pedretti amassed 170 appearances during his five-year stay. He was a highly influential member of the squad and featured for the national team, increasing his total to 22 caps.

Lille

Pedretti was signed by

for an undisclosed fee on the opening day of the summer 2011 transfer window as a replacement for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

-bound

Yohan Cabaye Yohan Cabaye (; born 14 January 1986) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Cabaye began his football career playing for hometown club US Tourcoing FC, US Tourcoing at the age of six. Afte ...

. Pedretti said, “It

ille The Ille (; ) is a small river in Brittany, France, right tributary of the river Vilaine. It is long. It flows into the Vilaine in the city Rennes. The Ille is linked to the semi-tidal Rance river by the Canal d'Ille-et-Rance. By this canal, ...

is a very good club with great, interesting challenges. ��My choice is to come to Lille."

Ajaccio

On 4 August 2013, Pedretti agreed a two-year deal with

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccien (), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ACA or simply Ajaccio, is a French professional football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and plays in the Ligue 2, the sec ...

. He scored a wonder goal for Ajaccio in his second game for the club, netting from 20 yards out, in a 1–1 draw with reigning champions PSG on 18 August. Ajaccio decided not to renew his contract in 2015. Thus, he became a free agent.

Nancy

On 1 August 2015, Pedretti signed a one-year contract with

AS Nancy Lorraine Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), known as AS Nancy Lorraine, and more commonly as Nancy, is a French Association football, football club founded in 1967 and based in Nancy, France, Nancy, Grand Est. The club plays its home matches at the ...

, with an option for a second year. In January 2018, having struggled with injuries at the end of the 2016–17 and the beginning of the 2017–18 season, he announced his retirement from professional football. He took up the role of assistant coach to Patrick Gabriel.

International career

On 20 November 2002, Pedretti made his debut for the France national team that year, coming on as a late substitution for

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French author, Philanthropy, philanthropist and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

in a 3–0 win over Serbia and Montenegro. He was part of the French squad that won the Confederations Cup in 2003 and reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2004 when France were knocked out by the eventual champions Greece in the quarter finals by the score 1–0. He played 22 internationals for France the last of which was against Hungary in a 2–1 win.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Sochaux * Division 2: 2000–01 *

: 2003–04 Lyon *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

: 2005–06 France *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedretti, Benoit 1980 births Living people People from Audincourt Footballers from Doubs French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Olympique de Marseille players Olympique Lyonnais players AJ Auxerre players Lille OSC players AC Ajaccio players AS Nancy Lorraine players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players French football managers Ligue 2 managers AS Nancy Lorraine managers 21st-century French sportsmen