“Yes, I have regrets. I couldn't speak to the press. It was imposed on me. As I couldn't publicly express myself, some players were a little stuck with me. They were wondering which side I was on…” Alain Boghossian, who qualified as a coach after his playing career, hesitated before accepting the assistant position offered by Raymond Domenech in 2008, for fear of being used by the most hated figure in France at the time. There was no shortage of it.
Coach of the Blues during the 2006 World Cup final lost on penalties against Italy, Domenech then led the France team to a dismal Euro 2008. Maintained without any logic by the FFF – at the request of his friend Noël Le Graët – the coach with the mustache therefore suggested that Boghossian join his staff alongside Pierre Mankowski. He became the France 98 guarantor, having played five of the seven matches at the World Cup (coming into play in the final against Brazil).
Bruno Martini, Pierre Mankowski and Alain Boghossian assistants to Raymond Domenech.
“Bogho” is in “the family photo” of the most scandalous episode in the history of the French selection. Raymond Domenech, in total freewheeling, created a deleterious climate around the French team on the road to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It is his absolutely disastrous management which will, in part, lead to the players' strike at Knysna, the training camp.
Boghossian deputy to Domenech then Blanc
The dark story is known to all: lectured at half-time of the second match against Mexico (0-2), Nicolas Anelka made insulting remarks towards his coach which were reported in a loud manner by The Team. This is the front page of the newspaper which pushes the FFF to exclude the attacker. Captain Patrice Evra and his teammates protest by refusing to train. To the great dismay of Robert Duverne, the physical trainer. The mutiny is relayed on the news channels continuously.
In the columns of World in 2011, Alain Boghossian admitted to having “morflé” during the immense media outcry caused by this incident (especially since the Blues were eliminated by losing their third match against the South Africans). The former Serie A defensive midfielder, now a consultant for DAZN on the Italian championship, was then kept on the French staff by his friend Laurent Blanc until the departure of the “President” in 2012.
