Philippe Omar Troussier,October's ten – Religious conversions

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, Emma John; 1 October 2006 (; born 21 March 1955) is a French former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who was most recently the manager of the

Vietnam national football team The Vietnam national football team () represents Vietnam in men's senior international association football and is controlled by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), the governing body of football in Vietnam. The team's nickname is the Golde ...

from February 2023 to March 2024. After a modest playing career as a defender within the French leagues, he moved into management where he started out within the lower echelons of French football, however it was his move to Ivorian team

ASEC Mimosas ASEC Mimosas (short for Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas; ) is an Ivorian professional football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Abidjan'', especially in international club competitions. Founded in 194 ...

where he started to distinguish himself as a manager after winning several league titles with them. This would soon see him have a long association with

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n football and particularly their national teams, with

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

being teams he managed. His international management career would continue with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

where he had a successful spell with them by winning the 2000 AFC Asian Cup. Since then, he has returned to club management.

Playing career

Troussier started his career in football as a player and would go on to become a professional with French Division 2 football club

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

in the 1976–77 league season. The following campaign he would leave to join Red Star 93, however his stay at the club was brief and he moved to

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. After several seasons with Rouen, Troussier's last professional club was Stade de Reims whom he played for until 1983. After having spent his whole professional career in the second division he moved into management.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Troussier soon moved into management after gaining his coaching licences and achieved his first coaching position with the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

where he was allowed to manage a National football centre football club called Institut National du Football de Vichy or more commonly known as INF Vichy. The team were allowed to participate in the third tier and given exemption from promotion or relegation so the young players could develop. In his time with the team he led them into the 1983–84 league season where they came second within their group. The following season Troussier would coach CS Alençon in the French fourth division and spent three seasons learning how to manage an amateur football club. He would return to his former club Red Star 93 in the 1987–88 league season as their manager. In his time with the club he would guide them to second within the group and promotion to the second tier at the end of the 1988–89 league campaign. He would, however leave the club on 30 June 1989 to join second-tier club

Créteil Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...

on a caretaker basis until 1 October 1989 when Bernard Maligorne took on the management position.

Move to Africa

Troussier's first move away from France started with Ivory Coast top division football club

where in his debut season he won the league championship. This would soon be followed by two further league titles and an endearment towards the country, which saw him gain citizenship with Ivory Coast. With his impressive run at club level the

Ivory Coast national football team The Ivory Coast national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football de Côte d'Ivoire'', recognized as the Côte d'Ivoire by FIFA) represents Ivory Coast in men's international football. Nicknamed ''the Elephants'', the team is managed by t ...

hired him as their manager in hopes that he could replicate his success with the national team. He was assigned to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, however he failed to achieve this and soon left his post to move to South African football club Kaizer Chiefs. After a brief period with Kaizer Chiefs Troussier moved to Moroccan football club Fath Union Sport and led them to the 1995 Coupe du Trône. His time with Fath Union Sport also saw him experience relegation to the second tier with them, however he remained with the club for several seasons until he was offered a chance to return to international management with

to replace Shaibu Amodu as they attempted to qualify for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

. Entering the job halfway through qualifying he led them into four games throughout the campaign as Nigeria qualified, however the Nigeria Football Federation decided to relieve Troussier of his duties and ultimately let highly experienced coach Bora Milutinović lead them into the tournament due to his experience of already managing three different nations in a World Cup at that time. Troussier quickly found a new job managing another African nation in

where he was assigned to coach them in the

1998 African Cup of Nations The 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso was the 21st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (ACN), the national Association football, football championship of Africa, administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Just like in ...

, which they were hosting. In a short period of time he made the team genuine title contenders until they were beaten by

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 ...

2–0 in the semi-finals. Burkina Faso ultimately finished fourth after losing to DR Congo in the third-place match, nevertheless the result meant it was their highest ever finish at the time. His stint at Burkina Faso would impress the

South African Football Association The South African Football Association (colloquially known as SAFA) is the national administrative governing body that controls the sport of football in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and is a member of the Confederation of African Footbal ...

, who offered him the job of leading South Africa to the 1998 World Cup. He would replace

Jomo Sono Ephraim Matsilele Sono OIS (born Madoda Walletjies Mkulwana, 17 July 1955), better known as Jomo Sono, is a South African football club owner, coach and former professional footballer. He has been variously nicknamed the "Black Prince of Sout ...

, who, despite leading South Africa to the final of the 1998 African Cup of Nations as a caretaker manager, was not given a permanent position. Troussier, however was not able to galvanize the squad as he had done with Burkina Faso and the team were knocked-out in the group stages. After the tournament he would leave Africa, but before he did he was nicknamed as the "White

Witch Doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors ...

" for his overall successful legacy towards African football. However, his role as coach of South Africa remains a highly controversial topic, in which former defender

Mark Fish Mark Anthony Fish (born 14 March 1974) is a South African former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Club career Born in Cape Town, Fish started his career in his native Sout ...

, who played in the 1998 World Cup, later blamed Troussier for the failure.

Move to Asia

In 1998 Troussier replaced Takeshi Okada to coach Japan and was assigned to improve upon the nation's previous results at the 1998 FIFA World Cup as they prepared to co-host the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. Having to use a translator, he struggled to get what he wanted from the players as they were knocked out of the 1999 Copa América within the group stages. The disappointing performance within the tournament gathered a negative reaction from the Japanese media, which saw Troussier go for a more youthful approach and take the reins of the under-20 team as they participated in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. The Japanese team had a successful campaign and were runners-up within the tournament. He continued to take control of Japan's youth teams when he managed the under-23 team in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and led them to the quarter-finals. The majority of that team would then go on to be called up to the 2000 AFC Asian Cup and win the tournament. With this success, Troussier went into the 2002 FIFA World Cup with confidence and led Japan to the final 16, making it at the time Japan's best ever finish within the competition. In July 2003 Troussier was appointed as the new manager of

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

and was assigned with qualification for the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

with the hope of repeating the success he previously had with Japan. Initially his reign went smoothly with a successful qualification campaign and a team selection that once again employed a youthful approach as well as several naturalized players. The tournament itself turned out to be a disappointment that saw Qatar finish bottom of their group. Along with his disappointing start to the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Troussier was ultimately fired from his position.

Return to France and Africa

On 27 November 2004, Troussier returned to France to manage

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 ...

team

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 ...

. His time with the club would see him have a tumultuous relationship with the senior players, particularly French international player Bixente Lizarazu. A fifth-place finish at the end of the season saw Troussier replaced by Jean Fernandez. He returned to Africa and became the head coach of the Moroccan national team, having taken over after the country's failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. However, he was fired after two months in charge by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation due to a difference in opinion.

Return to Asia

From 2005, after a stint 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 ...

, Troussier would stay away from football and was confirmed to have converted to Islam around 2006. In March 2008, he returned to Japan to manage FC Ryūkyū a Japanese third-division team, before he was replaced by compatriot Jean Paul Rabier. On 22 February 2010, he returned to management with Chinese Super League side Shenzhen Ruby F.C. on a three-year contract. He would once again enforce a youthful team selection; however this would relegate the team, making them the first top-tier champions to be relegated since the foundation of professional football in China. He would remain with the club while they were in the second tier; however after mounting criticism he would alienate himself from the fans after the fourth-round league match versus Chongqing F.C. when in a local TV interview Troussier fired out against criticism and doubt from fans and urged them "not to come to the game or him". Shenzhen Ruby won the match, however former players who were forced to leave by Troussier in his efforts to force youth into the team Li Fei and Chris Killen scored for Chongqing F.C. in their first return to Shenzhen and physical confrontations took place after the match among fans, staffs, players and even Troussier himself. He further alienated his relationships with the squad and staff on 25 August after a defeat to Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. saw the club's hopes of promotion vanish and he provided a statement that he would take leave back to France on a "regular holiday under his contract". The club's supporters would believe the board sent him on leave hoping that the indignity would see him resign rather than compensating him the 1 million euros per year in his contract. He returned from his holiday and managed the club throughout the 2013 Chinese league season, where he was unable to gain promotion. Troussier is widely believed to be the first-choice replacement as coach of the

Malaysia national football team The Malaysia national football team () represents Malaysia in international association football, football and is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya ...

after the

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (commonly abbreviated as FAM; ) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia, headquartered at Wisma FAM. The FAM is also one of the founding members of both the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) a ...

didn't renew former coach K. Rajagopal's contract after it expired in December 2013. He was said to have agreed a MYR5 million annual salary with the FAM. However, the deal fell through when he faced some disagreements with the Football Association of Malaysia. On 30 June 2014, Troussier became manager of CS Sfaxien of Tunisia. On 28 September 2014, Troussier quit CS Sfaxien. In April 2018, he was one of 77 applicants for the vacant Cameroon national team job.

Vietnam and decline

Later in 2018, he became a strategic adviser and then officially a technical director of PVF, a Vietnamese football academy. In 2019, referred by PVF, Troussier became the head coach of Vietnam U19 National Team. On February 16, 2023, the

Vietnam Football Federation The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF; ) is the governing body of football in Vietnam. It is responsible for the all Vietnamese teams of association football, futsal and beach soccer as well as national competitions. VFF is currently a member of ...

(VFF) officially announced it had appointed Troussier head coach of the

. Troussier officially took office in February 2023, succeeding Park Hang-seo to lead the U22, U23, Olympic and Vietnam national teams. His contract is expected to officially begin in early March 2023 and will run until the end of July 2026, for a total of 3 years and 5 months. At the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, the Vietnam U-22 team lost to Indonesia U-22 in the semifinals, 3-2, and won the bronze medal after beating Myanmar U-22 3-1. He then led Vietnam to the biggest failure in its modern history, becoming the first fail to advance past the group stage of the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

after two consecutive opening losses against

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

(the latter had not defeated Vietnam since 2016) and for the first time, Vietnam didn't advance past the group stage of an Asian Cup after doing in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Vietnam also lost in the last match against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Following the shock elimination, calls to fire Troussier increased. But the VFF confirmed that it would not fire him but instead could reconsider his contract if Vietnam perform poorly in the remaining fixtures of the 2026 World Cup qualification. After Vietnam lost again to Indonesia in the first leg at the

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

, Troussier face rising criticism. The loss was blamed on Troussier's lack of focus on professional areas and confrontational attitude with Vietnamese media. On March 26, 2024, Vietnam at home lost 3-0, to Indonesia in their second leg. During the match, Vietnamese fans carried posters urging Troussier's ouster. His contract was eventually terminated by the VFF shortly after the match.

Personal life

Phillipe Troussier and his wife converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

in Morocco, acquiring the name ''Philippe Omar Troussier''.

Managerial statistics

Honors

ASEC Mimosas * Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division: 1990, 1991, 1992 FUS Rabat * Coupe du Trône: 1995 Japan U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

: runner-up

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Japan *

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 ...

: runner-up

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Vietnam U23 * SEA Games: bronze medal

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual * AFC Coach of the Year: 2000 * Japan Football Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2020

References

External links

Philippe Troussier – International Matches as Coach
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...