Éric Rabésandratana (born 18 September 1972) is a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player. He played mainly as a

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. ...

and could also operate as a

central defender 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 ...

. Born in France, he represented Madagascar internationally. In a 17-year professional career he appeared in 191

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

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 () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

Club career

Born in Épinay-sur-Seine, Paris, Rabésandratana was brought up at

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), known as AS Nancy Lorraine, and more commonly as Nancy, is a French football club founded in 1967 and based in Nancy, Grand Est. The club plays its home matches at the Stade Marcel Picot located in Tomb ...

'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 Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He coached the France national football team, France national team that won the 199 ...

, who would later manage the France national team. He made his

debut on 8 September 1990 in a 4–1 away loss against

Stade Malherbe Caen Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, Malherbe, or simply Caen) is a Football in France, French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, that competes in the Championnat Na ...

, 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 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

, only to be relegated the following year. In 1997 Rabésandratana moved to

, helping the club to the

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

, League Cup and Supercup in his debut year, and eventually gaining the club captaincy. However, with the arrival of new coach Luis Fernández, he gradually lost his importance. After a turbulent season with Greece's

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

, Rabésandratana returned home and signed with lowly

LB Châteauroux La Berrichonne de Châteauroux (), commonly referred to as La Berrichonne or simply Châteauroux, is a Football in France, French association football club based in Châteauroux. The football team is a part of a sports club that consists of seve ...

. 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 Toulouse Football Club () is a French professional association football, football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France, French football. Toulouse plays it ...

, but this was never sanctioned by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

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 association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. Born in Haiti, Eloi's family relocated to Paris, France, when he was nine. In Paris ...

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 USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

expansion franchise. In April 2021, the

Malagasy Football Federation The Malagasy Football Federation () is the governing body of Football (soccer), football in Madagascar. It was founded in 1961, affiliated to FIFA in 1964 and to Confederation of African Football, CAF in 1963. It organizes the Malagasy Premier Le ...

announced Rabésandratana would serve as caretaker manager for

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, following Nicolas Dupuis' suspension.

Notes

References

External links

* *
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 FC 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 20th-century French sportsmen