Didier Six (born 21 August 1954) is a French

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player, who most recently worked as manager of the

Guinea national football team The Guinea national football team ( French: '' Équipe de football du Guinée'') represents Guinea in men's international football and it is controlled by the Guinean Football Federation. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, ...

until October 2021. A gifted but inconsistent winger, Six enjoyed a nomadic career, playing in five countries. He also played for France in the

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and

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 bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

FIFA World Cups, and was also part of the winning team at Euro 84.

Playing career

Six began his playing career at Division 2 side

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, making his debut at the age of 17 in 1972. He helped ''Les Athéniens'' achieve promotion to the top flight in 1975, which was followed by a remarkable season in which they finished 10th, and Six finished as the top scorer at the club with 12 goals. After turning down offers from Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Feyenoord, Six decided to join

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), come ...

in 1977, where he spent a single season, notably scoring a hattrick against

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in the

UEFA 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 Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. Lens were relegated at the end of 1977-78 and Six would be made the scapegoat. This was followed by two more disappointing years playing for

Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

, after which his career would become nomadic in the years that followed, playing in Belgium, Germany, England and Turkey. He acquired Turkish citizenship in order to play as a domestic player at Galatasaray, playing under the name Dündar Siz. There he won the Turkish First League championship in 1987–88 season. He ended his career in 1992 after a two-year spell in the newly re-unified 2.Bundesliga with VfB Leipzig.

International career

Six was first selected for the France national football team by manager

Michel Hidalgo Michel François Hidalgo (22 March 1933 – 26 March 2020) was a French professional football player, footballer and Manager (association football), manager. He was the head coach of the France national football team, French national team from 1 ...

whilst still at Valenciennes, making his debut on March 27, 1976 against

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, the same game in which

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, ...

made his debut. He played as a winger and he earned 52

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and scored 13 goals for the

France national football team The France national football team (french: Équipe de France de football) represents France in men's international football matches. It is governed by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a ...

. He played in the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

and the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...

, and was also part of the winning team at Euro 84.

Coaching career

Six was signed by the

Togolese Football Federation The Togolese Football Federation (french: Fédération Togolaise de Football) or FTF is the governing body of football in Togo. In 2006, the Togo national football team participated for first time in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Staff * Presid ...

as coach for the

Togo national football team The Togo national football team ( French: Équipe nationale de football du Togo) represents Togo in international football and is controlled by the Togolese Football Federation. The national football team of Togo made their debut in the FIFA Wor ...

in November 2011. He became manager of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

in January 2015 and was fired in May 2015 following a suspension for poor behaviour during the

2015 COSAFA Cup The 2015 COSAFA Cup was the 15th edition of the COSAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). It was hosted by South Africa in Ma ...

. In April 2018 he was one of 77 applicants for the vacant Cameroon national team job. He became manager of

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

on 13 September 2019, but left this role in October 2021.

References

External links

* FRbr>Profile, stats and pictures of Didier Six

Profile on French federation official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Six, Didier 1954 births Living people Footballers from Lille French footballers France international footballers Valenciennes FC players RC Lens players Olympique de Marseille players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players RC Strasbourg Alsace players VfB Stuttgart players FC Mulhouse players Aston Villa F.C. players ASPV Strasbourg managers FC Metz players Galatasaray S.K. footballers 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players ASPV Strasbourg players Bundesliga players English Football League players Süper Lig players 1978 FIFA World Cup players 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1984 players UEFA European Championship-winning players Belgian First Division A players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Togo French expatriate sportspeople in Guinea French expatriate sportspeople in Mauritius Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in East Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey French emigrants to Turkey Naturalized citizens of Turkey Expatriate footballers in West Germany Expatriate football managers in Guinea Expatriate football managers in Togo Expatriate football managers in Mauritius Togo national football team managers 2013 Africa Cup of Nations managers Association football midfielders Guinea national football team managers French football managers RC Strasbourg Alsace non-playing staff FCO Strasbourg Koenigshoffen 06 managers