Manuel Amoros (born 1 February 1962) is a French former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He was capped 82 times for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, and played in the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

s finals of

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

, and the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

finals in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

Club career

Born in Nîmes, Gard, Amoros played most of his career for

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

in the French first division. He missed his penalty in the

1991 European Cup Final The 1991 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, Italy, on 29 May 1991, that saw Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia defeat Marseille of France in a penalty shoot-out. After normal time and extra time could no ...

for

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

and subsequently

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in ...

won the match 5–3 on penalties.

International career

Amoros was born in France to Spanish parents, escaping from

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 19 ...

's regime. He represented the

France national team France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

. It was his stints with the ''Tricolor'' during the 1982 and 1986 World Cups in which he stood out. In the 1982 semi-final against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, he hit the crossbar in the 89th minute, and in the penalty shoot-out he converted his kick before France were eventually eliminated. In the 1984 European Championships held in France, Amoros showed an egregious side of him when, during the opening game against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

, he was sent off for head-butting the Danish midfielder

Jesper Olsen Jesper Olsen (born 20 March 1961) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He is best remembered for representing Ajax of the Netherlands and Manchester United of England. He was a regular player for the Danish na ...

. He was banned for three games. However, in the final against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, national coach

Michel Hidalgo Michel François Hidalgo (22 March 1933 – 26 March 2020) was a French professional footballer and manager. He was the head coach of the French national team from 1976 to 1984, with whom he won the UEFA Euro 1984 on home soil, also reaching th ...

used him as a substitute in a game that Les Bleus won by 2–0 at the Parc des Princes. At the 1986 World Cup, the 24-year-old Amoros was voted best left-back in the tournament by the international press.

Managerial career

In June 2010, Amoros was appointed national team manager for the

Comoros Islands The Comoro Islands or Comoros ( Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northw ...

, which coached to September 2010. In January 2012, he was named new coach of

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

, replacing Edme Codjo, who had been in charge since August 2011.

Honours

Monaco * Division 1: 1981–82, 1987–88 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and professio ...

: 1984–85 Marseille *Division 1: 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

; runner-up: 1990–91 France *

third place:

Individual *

FIFA World Cup Best Young Player At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...

Onze d'Argent The ''Onze d'Or'' (alternative name: ''Onze Mondial'' European Footballer of the Year) is an association football award given by French magazine ''Onze Mondial'' since 1976. The award honors the best player in Europe, with any player in a European l ...

: 1986 *

French Player of the Year __FORCETOC__ The French Player of the Year is an association football award presented annually by the French magazine ''France Football'' since 1959. Originally, only French players playing in France were eligible, but from 1996 French players play ...

: 1986 *

FIFA World Cup All-Star Team At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...

* FIFA XI: 1986

References

External links

* * *
Profile
at Soccerpunter.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amoros, Manuel 1962 births Living people Footballers from Nîmes French footballers France international footballers Association football defenders AS Monaco FC players Olympique de Marseille players Olympique Lyonnais players Ligue 1 players UEFA European Championship-winning players 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1992 players French football managers Comoros national football team managers Benin national football team managers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Monaco French expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the Comoros Expatriate football managers in Benin French expatriate sportspeople in Benin French expatriate sportspeople in the Comoros French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco French people of Spanish descent