Bernard Nicolas Thierry Diomède (born 23 January 1974) is a French

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. He was most recently the manager of the France U20s. He played as a winger and won the

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 concept i ...

with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Early life

Diomède was born in

Saint-Doulchard Saint-Doulchard () is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. It is on the outskirts of Bourges. History In Roman times, it was named Ampeliacum, which literally means "the vineyard hillsides", where they ...

, Cher, to parents of

Guadeloupean Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Ba ...

descent.

Club career

Diomède's career began with

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division o ...

. After playing at youth level for the club, he made his Division 1 debut in 1992. He played in the first team during eight years, under

Guy Roux Guy Marcel Roux (; born 18 October 1938) is a French former football player and manager known for being in charge of AJ Auxerre for more than 40 years and for leading the team to national and worldwide prominence. Managerial career A native of C ...

Auxerre won the Division 1 and

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 ...

double in 1996. The winger scored 30 goals in 175 Ligue 1 matches for Auxerre. In June 2000, Diomède was signed for £3m by then

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

manager

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...

. Making his debut against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, Diomède appeared to have scored with an overhead kick, but the goal was not given even though replays showed that the ball had crossed the line. However, he did not settle in England, and only played five matches for Liverpool. In January 2003, he was loaned out to

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccio ( co, Athletic Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ''ACA'' or simply Ajaccio, is a French association football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and ...

, newly promoted in France's

Ligue 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 ...

, until the end of his contract. After his spell at Liverpool had come to an end, he joined the

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

team

Créteil Créteil () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Cré ...

, and then

Clermont Foot Clermont Foot 63 (Occitan language, Occitan: ''Clarmont d'Auvèrnhe''; commonly referred to as Clermont Foot or simply Clermont) is a Football in France, French association football club based in Clermont-Ferrand. The first incarnation of the c ...

in the

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...

(3rd division).

International career

Diomède was capped eight times for the France national team, but never scored. He received his first cap in a friendly against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 28 January 1998. At the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

he started in three matches, against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in the group stage and against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

in the round of 16. He was unable to regain his place in the French national team after the 1998 World Cup.

Retirement

On 18 January 2008, Diomède announced his retirement from the game after being without a club for 18 months. He now runs the Bernard Diomede Football Academy at the Saint Nicolas high school in

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...

, just south of Paris.

Honours

Auxerre * Division 1: 1995–96 *

: 1995–96 France *

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 ...

Orders *

Knight of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

: 1998 * Officer of the National Order of Merit: 2013

References

External links

* *
LFC History Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diomede, Bernard 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Cher (department) French footballers France international footballers Association football wingers AJ Auxerre players Liverpool F.C. players AC Ajaccio players US Créteil-Lusitanos players Clermont Foot players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Ligue 2 players UEFA Cup winning players 1998 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England Black French sportspeople Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite French people of Guadeloupean descent Footballers from Centre-Val de Loire