Alain Jean Giresse (; born 2 August 1952) 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 is the current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of the Kosovo national team. He was French Player of the Year in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Nominally an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

central 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 boundarie ...

, Giresse was an intelligent

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

who possessed fine agility and acceleration due to his short frame. He is the father of

Thibault Giresse Thibault Giresse (born 25 May 1981) is a French professional football manager and former player who is an assistant coach at club Nîmes. As a player, he was a midfielder. Playing career Giresse signed a two-year contract with Guingamp on 15 ...

, also a football player.

International career

Giresse played for the France national team in 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 ...

(fourth place) and the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

(third place). He was a member of the Euro 84 winning team, and alongside

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, a ...

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 ...

and

Jean Tigana Amadou Jean Tigana (born 23 June 1955) is a French former footballer and coach. He has played in midfield and managed professional football extensively throughout France, including 52 appearances and one goal for the France national football team ...

, forming the team's legendary "Carré Magique" (Magic Square) in midfield.

Coaching career

Other national teams

He has been in charge of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

and the Georgian national team, among others. Giresse worked as the head coach of the

Gabon national football team The Gabon national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football du Gabon'') represents Gabon in men's international football. The team's nickname is The Panthers and it is governed by the Gabonese Football Federation. They have never qualified ...

, and was named a few months after the 2010 African Cup of Nations the

Mali national football team The Mali national football team ( French: '' Équipe de football du Mali '') represents Mali in men's international football and is governed by the Malian Football Federation. The team's nickname is Les Aigles. They represent both FIFA and the ...

manager. He was the coach of

Senegal national football team The Senegal national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football du Senegal''), nicknamed the ''Lions of Teranga'', represents Senegal in international association football and is operated by the Senegalese Football Federation. One of Africa' ...

from 2013 to January 2015. On 7 September 2017, Giresse resigned as manager of the

. In December 2017 he was linked with the vacant Benin national team manager's job. In April 2018 he was one of 77 applicants for the vacant Cameroon national team job. On 13 December 2018, Giresse became the manager of the

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. He left the role in August 2019.

Kosovo

On 23 February 2022,

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

appointed Giresse after agreeing to a contract until November 2023, this happened after the former coach

Bernard Challandes Bernard Challandes (born 26 July 1951) is a Swiss professional football coach and former player who last managed Kosovo. Coaching career Clubs Challandes became coach of Saint-Imier in 1978. Subsequently, he has been the coach of many other tea ...

decided to resign after weak results in October 2021. On 18 March 2022, Giresse made his first squad announcement with Kosovo for the

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He called-up

Emir Sahiti Emir Sahiti (born 29 November 1998) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Prva HNL club Hajduk Split and the Kosovo national team. Club career Early career and Trepça '89 Sahiti is a product of youth team systems ...

for the first time in the squad.

Career statistics

Club

:Source:

International

:Source:

Managerial statistics

Morocco vs Gabon, Alain Giresse, March 28 2009

Honours

Player

Bordeaux *

French Division 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

: 1983–84, 1984–85 *

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 profession ...

: 1985–86 France *

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 ...

: 1984 *

Artemio Franchi Trophy Artemio is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Artemio Franchi (1922–1983), Italian football administrator *Artemio Lomboy Rillera (1947–2011), the Roman Catholic bishop of San Fernando de La Union, Philippines * Artemio Panga ...

: 1985 *

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

Third place:

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 ente ...

Individual *

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament At the end of each UEFA European Championship tournament, several awards are attributed to the players and teams which have distinguished from the rest, in different aspects of the game. Awards There are currently five post-tournament awards, and o ...

: 1984 * Onze d'Argent: 1982 *

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

– Runner-up: 1982 * French Player of the Year: 1982, 1983, 1987 * 7th French Player of the Century

Manager

Paris Saint-Germain *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

: 1998 FAR Rabat *

Coupe du Trône The Moroccan Throne Cup or the Throne Cup is a football tournament sponsored by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and brings together Moroccan clubs who play on the knockout system until two teams reach the final match. Unlike the league ch ...

: 2003 Mali *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

Third place:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Orders

* Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur: 2006

References

French Football Federation profile

External links