By FRANCO PANIZO
The man who last led France to international glory as a player is now in charge of doing the same as a coach.
Former France captain Didier Deschamps was hired as manager of Les Bleus on Sunday, agreeing to a deal that will see him take charge of one of the more troubled sides in international soccer. Deschamps recently left his post at Marseille, and he became the candidate to replace Laurent Blanc after the latter turned down a new contract offer last month.
Deschamps, who captained France to its only World Cup title in 1998, will have little time to prepare his new team. He has one friendly against Uruguay in August and then World Cup qualifying starts for Les Bleus in September with Group I matches against Finland and Belarus.
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If Great Britain is to come out victorious in this summer's Olympics, Ryans Giggs will be the man to lead them. Giggs, one of the three overage players for Great Britain, was announced as captain of the team on Sunday morning. He will lead out Great Britain for the first time when they take on Brazil on July 20.
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What do you think of Deschamps being hired as France's manager? Glad that the Terry racism ordeal is nearing a conclusion? Should Keita explore his options in Europe?
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