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Saturday, 30 June 2012

Laurent Blanc Leaves French Post


Laurent Blanc has left his job as manager of the French national team after his contract came to an end.

The 46-year-old, who has been linked with the vacant Tottenham post, took over from Raymond Domenech in 2010.

Like his predecessor, Blanc endured infighting between players which he admitted had delayed match preparations before their Euro 2012 quarter-final against Spain.

The 2-0 defeat proved to be Blanc's final match in charge.

Having guided the side to a 23-match unbeaten run, Blanc's men were defeated 2-0 by Sweden in the last group game of the competition.

Laurent Blanc lost the first two and last two games in between a 23-game unbeaten run with the country

It meant they finished second to England in Group D, and came up against Vicente del Bosque's world and European Championship-winning side in the quarter-final.

Blanc, stated before the clash: "Some players were very angry and there were words exchanged after the [Sweden] game."

And Les Bleus's campaign ended on the worst possible note after Manchester City midfielder Sami Nasri became involved in a row after the Spain loss, where he insulted a journalist for which he later apologised.

The French side also suffered criticism from previous manager Domenech, who said: "A major tournament reveals the strength of a group, a generation. The most glaring [weakness is] their inability to see anything other than their navel."

Former Bordeaux manager Blanc enjoyed a promising start to life in club management, guiding the Ligue One side to a league and cup double in 2009.

As a player, he played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe including Barcelona, Manchester United and Inter Milan.

He earned 97 caps for his country and won the 1998 World Cup, although he missed the final having been sent-off in the semi, and experienced success two years later after victory over Italy in the European Championship final.

France's next fixture is a friendly against Copa America champions Uruguay on 15 August, before they begin their 2012 World Cup qualifying campaign against Finland on 7 September.



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