Henri Louis Michel (28 October 1947 – 24 April 2018) was 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 ...

player and coach. He played as 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 ...

for

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and the France national team, and later went on to coach various clubs and national teams all over the world. He coached France at the 1986 World Cup, where they reached the semi-final, eventually managing a third–place finish; he also helped the Olympic squad win a gold medal in the 1984 edition of the tournament.

Management career

France

Michel managed the France national team, guiding the gold medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, and a third–place finish at the 1986 World Cup.

Cameroon

In 1994, he managed

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. He coached Cameroon at the 1994 World Cup in US.

Morocco

Michel had two stints with

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, the first being between 1995 and 2000. His second stint, beginning in 2007, was short-lived with a poor showing at the Africa Cup of Nations 2008 where Morocco left in the first round. This resulted in his sacking from the post in February 2008.

Tunisia

From 2001 to 2002, he coached

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. He was fired when Tunisia exited the 2002 African Cup of Nations in the first round after failing to score a single goal.

Ivory Coast

He joined the Ivorian national team after the departure of Robert Nouzaret around 2004. He managed with a young Ivorian team to come out first of their group ahead of

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, becoming the first coach to send Ivory Coast to the World Cup. In February 2006, He reached the Africa Cup of Nations final, but lost to Egypt on penalties. Later that year, he managed the Ivory Coast at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, where they played well but went home in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

after two defeats by

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, before beating

Serbia & Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

3–2 in their final match.

El Zamalek

After the 2006 World Cup he joined the Egyptian club

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

. He left the club in 2007 to return to Morocco.

Sundowns

In 2008, he was appointed coach of Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa. He left in March 2009 after being chased by an angry mob demanding his resignation.

El Zamalek

After two years turned back to El Zamalek on 30 August 2009 and on 30 November 2009 El Zamalek officials have fired the France national team coach due to negative results, the team was 15 points behind bitter rivals Al Ahly in the Egyptian league.

Raja Casablanca

Henri Michel was named Raja de Casablanca manager on 11 June 2010.

Equatorial Guinea

On 10 December 2010, Michel was hired head coach of the

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

to lead the team for 2012 Africa Cup of Nations they would co-host with

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

. He suddenly resigned from his post on 19 October 2011, with the Africa Cup of Nations three months away, because he said he could not have the best players in the country, but five days later he was rehired thanks to the dismissal of Sports Minister Ruslan Obiang Nsue. On 21 December 2011, he resigned as coach of Equatorial Guinea again, citing interference from a "third party" as the reason for his departure.

Kenya

On 28 August 2012, Michel was named by the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) as the head coach of the Harambee Stars, taking over from James Nandwa, who was acting as manager on a caretaker basis. Barely four months later, he resigned, stating that he "could not find an amicable agreement within the deadlines regarding my compliance with several provisions of the contract". The FKF has also stated that they were disappointed with his attitude especially in looking down towards local tournaments, even describing the 2012 CECAFA Cup as useless and sent Nandwa to handle the team as interim coach.

Career Statistics

International

:''Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Michel goal.''

International Managerial Statistics

Death

Henri Michel died on 24 April 2018, aged 70. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Honours

Orders * Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1999

References

External links