Marcel David Desailly (; 7 September 1968) 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 lea ...

, who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. During a successful career at club level, lasting from 1986 to 2006, Desailly won several titles, including

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

medals with both

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, and also played 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 Chelsea, among other teams. At international level, he collected 116 caps between 1993 and 2004, scoring three goals, and was a member of the France international squads that won the 1998 World Cup and

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

. Desailly is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest defenders in the history of the sport.

Early life

Marcel David Desailly was born on 7 September 1968 in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Ghana, to Elizabeth Addy. Elizabeth married Mr Abbey, an architect, and became pregnant with Desailly while Marcel Desailly Sr., a diplomat who would become Desailly's adoptive father, was away in France. He was adopted by Desailly Sr. soon after he was born and was named after his adoptive father, instead of Odenkey Abbey, the name preferred by his biological father. His mother married Desailly Sr., who adopted all of her children (the former professional footballer Seth Adonkor, seven years his elder, was a half-brother of his). The family relocated to France when Desailly was four years old.

Club career

Following Adonkor's lead, Desailly began his career at

. There, as part of the famed Nantes youth programme, he played alongside a young

Didier Deschamps Didier Claude Deschamps (; born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been managing the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, Engl ...

, who became his closest friend. Desailly turned professional in 1986, two years after his half-brother had died in a car accident. In 1992, he moved to

, where he reunited with Deschamps, and won the

the following year. In 1994, while playing for

, he again won the Cup (scoring in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

himself), being the first player to win the Cup in consecutive seasons with different clubs. During his time in Milan, he won two Italian league titles, in 1994 and 1996. Although he preferred to be deployed as a sweeper or

, roles which he played during his time in France, he found much success playing as a

for Milan, alongside Demetrio Albertini, due to the presence of several other established centre-backs at the club, such as

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining th ...

, Alessandro Costacurta and Filippo Galli. Desailly then moved to the English club Chelsea in 1998 for £4.6 million, where he captained the side and played sweeper and centre-back until the end of the 2003–04 season. It was at Chelsea that Desailly formed a formidable partnership with Frank Leboeuf. He picked up one major trophy in his six seasons with Chelsea, being on the winning side in their

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

triumph over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

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 ...

. Desailly was snapped up by Qatari outfit Al-Gharafa in 2004. He was appointed as the club captain and under the French coach Bruno Metsu they won the Qatar League in 2005. He then joined Qatar S.C., leading them to second place in the league before retiring from professional football. In 2014, Desailly had met 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 ...

and said he was ready and willing to coach the Malaysia national team. He also pointed that it was up to the football association whether to hire him or not.

International career

During an interview in Ghana, Desailly stated that he "did not have much choice about which country to play for," as he was "already established in the French national youth football team." This stance was restated in his autobiography, published in 2002. He made his international debut in 1993, but was not established as a first choice defender until 1996. He was an important part of the French team which won 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 ...

, albeit being sent off in the final match, being the only player on the winning team to be dismissed in a World Cup final. Like other team members, he was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1998. Two years later, success continued as France won

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

. After the tournament, Desailly was made captain of the national team, following the retirement of

. In 2001, he led France to victory in the

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 football championships, continental champions ...

. In April 2003, Desailly surpassed the record for the number of appearances for the French team, a number which eventually reached 116 when he announced his retirement from international football following 2004 UEFA European Football Championship. However, that record was broken during 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 ...

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French author, Philanthropy, philanthropist and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

Style of play

Nicknamed "The Rock", due to his consistency, strength, and hard-tackling playing style, Desailly is considered one of the most accomplished players of his generation, and one of the finest

defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...

ever, who stood out for his charismatic leadership and ability to organise his team's back-line and break down opposition plays throughout his career. A quick, hard-working, tenacious and powerful player, who excelled in the air and at anticipating his opponents, he combined his aggression, stamina, and ability to read the game, as well as his physical, mental, and defensive skills, with a notable confidence and good technique on the ball, which also allowed him to play in midfield throughout his career; indeed, after moving to Milan, although he initially started out playing as a centre-back or sweeper, and occasionally even as a full-back, he was later deployed as a defensive midfielder, a position in which he also excelled, successfully filling the void left by the departure of

Frank Rijkaard Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (; born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Regarded as one of the greatest midfielders in footballing history, Rijkaard was described by British broa ...

due his ball-winning abilities and capacity to start attacking plays after winning back possession. In addition to his defensive skills, he was also capable of contributing to his team's offensive plays with goals by making attacking runs into the box. In 2004, he was named by

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

in the

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list compiled by Brazilian professional footballer Pelé featuring his choices of the "greatest living footballers" at the time of its release. The list was unveiled on 4 March 2004 during a gala ceremony at the Natural Histor ...

as one of the world's greatest living players.

Legacy

25th Laureus World Sports Awards - Desailly - 240422 132803

Desailly is currently residing in Ghana. He is currently a Laureus Academy member and OrphanAid Africa Lifetime ambassador to Ghana and France (since 2005). He was mentioned as a possible candidate for the coaching position of the Ghana national team. He has since pulled out of the race to coach the Ghana national team, although the option is likely to keep coming up. In June 2011, he opened a sports facility in Ghana called Lizzy Sports Complex, in memory of his late mother, geared to young players and children in particular. Many African national teams use the centre as a camp to prepare for international tournaments. Desailly sold his interest in the business to Osei Kwame Despite in October 2019.

Post-playing career

Desailly's autobiography, ''Capitaine'', was published in 2002.

Media work

Following retirement, Desailly became a

pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

for

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

predominantly giving his opinion from the touchline at both half time and full-time as opposed to residing in the studio with

Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen MBE (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. Regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time and one of Liverpool's best ever centre-backs, he enjoyed a highly decorated ...

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...

and

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

. He worked for

in the United Kingdom during the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

, as one of their ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

'' analysts. He also worked for BBC Sport at the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confede ...

and Euro 2008 and is a regular commentator for French television channel Canal Plus. He also became a spokesperson for sports betting website Betclic. In 2010, Desailly joined the

ITV Sport ITV Sport is the Broadcasting of sports events, sports department of ITV plc, which produces and presents sports programming for the ITV (TV network), ITV network and ITVX. The branding was originally introduced in 1985 as an umbrella title fo ...

team for their

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

coverage from South Africa.

Charity work

Desailly is a supporter of the 1GOAL Education for All campaign. He is also the

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

national Goodwill Ambassador for Ghana. He is the Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador for his personal Charity OrphanAid Africa, that helps abandoned children in Ghana. He is a member of the Laureus Sports for Good Foundation.

Licensed merchandise

A mobile video game entitled '' Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer'', developed by

Gameloft Gameloft SE is a French video game company based in Paris, founded in December 1999 by Ubisoft co-founder Michel Guillemot. The company operates 18 development studios worldwide, and publishes games for mobile devices, video game consoles, and ...

was released for mobile phones in 2003. In France Ubisoft released versions of the game for PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Desailly is an ICON in ''FIFA 21'' Ultimate Team and FIFA 22 Ultimate Team with ratings of 87 (base), 88 (mid), 91 (prime), and 92 (Prime Icon Moments)in both games.

Personal life

Desailly is married to Virginie Desailly, and as of October 1998 has three children. His nephew James Édouard Adams is a semi-professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Marseille *

: 1992–93 AC Milan *

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

: 1993–94, 1995–96 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

*UEFA Champions League: 1993–94 *

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

Chelsea *

: 1999–2000 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Al-Gharafa *

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

: 2004–05 France *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual *Onze de Onze: 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 *Overseas Team of the Decade – Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992/93 – 2001/02) *Overall Team of the Decade – Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992/93 – 2001/02) * UEFA Euro 1996 Team of the Tournament * FIFA XI: 1996 * 1998 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team * UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament *

: 2004 * Trophée d'honneur UNFP: 2005 *AC Milan Hall of Fame * Golden Foot Legends Award: 2017 Orders * Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Desailly, Marcel 1968 births Living people AC Milan players Knights of the Legion of Honour Chelsea F.C. players FC Nantes players FIFA Men's Century Club FIFA 100 Men's association football midfielders Men's association football central defenders France men's international footballers French adoptees Ghanaian emigrants to France French sportspeople of Ghanaian descent French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar French men's footballers Olympique de Marseille players Footballers from Accra Ligue 1 players Premier League players Serie A players UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Al-Gharafa SC players UEFA Euro 2000 players European champions for France 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players UEFA European Championship–winning players Qatar SC players Qatar Stars League players UEFA Champions League–winning players Black French sportspeople Footballers from Nantes Association football people awarded knighthoods Naturalized citizens of France 20th-century French sportsmen 21st-century French sportsmen