Éric Rabésandratana (born 18 September 1972) is a professional football manager and former player who is the caretaker manager of the Madagascar national team. He played mainly as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

and could also operate as a

central defender 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 ...

. Born in France, he represented Madagascar internationally. In a 17-year professional career he appeared in 191 Ligue 1 games over the course of seven seasons (15 goals), in representation of Nancy and

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

Club career

Born in

Épinay-sur-Seine Épinay-sur-Seine (, literally ''Épinay on Seine'') is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The church of Notre-Dame-des-Missions-du-cygne d'Enghien, designed by Paul Tournon, may be fo ...

, Paris, Rabésandratana was brought up at

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), commonly known as AS Nancy Lorraine, or simply Nancy, is a French association football club founded in 1967 in Nancy, Grand Est and located in Tomblaine, in the inner suburbs of Nancy. The club currently ...

's youth ranks, being promoted to the first team at age 18 by coach

Aimé Jacquet Aimé Étienne Jacquet (born 27 November 1941) is a French former professional Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. He was manager of the France national football team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup. B ...

, who would later manage the French national team. He made his Ligue 1 debut on 8 September 1990 in a 4–1 away loss against Stade Malherbe Caen, and remained an undisputed starter throughout the duration of his spell – in the 1995–96 season, the defensive-minded player scored a career-best 16 league goals as ''Les Chardons'' promoted from Ligue 2, only to be relegated the following year. In 1997 Rabésandratana moved to

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As ...

, helping the club to the

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

and Supercup in his debut year, and eventually gaining the club captaincy. However, with the arrival of new coach

Luis Fernández Luis Miguel Fernández Toledo (born 2 October 1959), known as Luis Fernandez, is a French football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Fernandez spent most of his playing career for Paris Saint-Germain. He earned ...

, he gradually lost his importance. After a turbulent season with Greece's

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

, Rabésandratana returned home and signed with lowly LB Châteauroux. Two years after he moved to Belgium with R.A.E.C. Mons, which he helped promote in his second year, going on to be mainly used as a substitute during his spell.

International career

In 2007, Rabésandratana played for the Madagascar national team in a friendly with Toulouse FC, but this was never sanctioned by FIFA.

Coaching career

Rabésandratana retired professionally in 2007 at the age of 35, and focused on obtaining his coaching degree. He began working as a manager with the under-18 team at . In 2014, Rabésandratana co-founded the United States Champions Soccer Academy with fellow former footballer

Wagneau Eloi Wagneau Eloi (born 11 September 1973) is a Haitian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Haiti, Eloi's family relocated to Paris, France when he was nine. In Paris, Eloi played for Red Star and Paris FC before join ...

and entrepreneur Ravy Truchot. Additionally, he served as programming director and Eloi's assistant coach of the FC Miami City Champions, a new Premier Development League expansion franchise. In April 2021, the Malagasy Football Federation announced Rabésandratana would serve as caretaker manager for

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, following

Nicolas Dupuis Nicolas Dupuis (born 6 January 1968) is a French football manager and former player who currently manages the Madagascar national team. He is also the technical director of FC Fleury 91. Club career Dupuis played amateur football in Auvergn ...

' suspension.

Notes

References

External links

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Stats at ASNL Story
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rabesandratana, Eric 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Épinay-sur-Seine Malagasy men's footballers Malagasy football managers Madagascar men's international footballers French men's footballers French football managers France men's youth international footballers French sportspeople of Malagasy descent Madagascar national football team managers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players AS Nancy Lorraine players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players LB Châteauroux players AEK Athens F.C. players Belgian Pro League players R.A.E.C. Mons (1910) players France men's under-21 international footballers Malagasy expatriate men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Malagasy expatriates in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for France Mediterranean Games medalists in football Association football coaches Footballers from Seine-Saint-Denis