Franck Sauzée

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Born
1965 (59 years old)
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Aubenas, France

Position
Central Midfield

Status

Ethnicity
White

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Sport

Soccer

Team
_Retired Soccer

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_No League Soccer

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Description

Franck Gaston Henri Sauzée (born 28 October 1965) is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played 39 times for the France national team between 1988 and 1993, scoring nine goals and captaining the team several times. He achieved great success at club level during the same period, winning the 1993 UEFA Champions League Final and three league titles with Marseille. Later in his career he earned great plaudits for his performances for Scottish club Hibernian, whom Sauzée subsequently managed for a short period. Since ending his active involvement in professional football, Sauzée has worked as a football pundit for French television networks.

Sauzée won 39 caps for France between 1988 and 1993, scoring nine goals. He served as the captain of the national side in nine of those matches, and played in the 1992 European Championship Finals. He was also part of the France under–21 team that won the 1988 European Championship. What proved to be Sauzée's last match for the France senior team ended in great disappointment, however, as the team were defeated 2–1 by Bulgaria at the Parc des Princes. The defeat meant that France failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, despite the side containing other notable players such as Eric Cantona, Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps and Jean-Pierre Papin.

After the departure of manager Alex McLeish to Rangers in December 2001, Sauzée was appointed manager of Hibernian. He was only the second non-Scot to manage the club, and the first since 1919. The appointment came as something of a surprise because the Hibs board of directors had only met the previous day to discuss possible replacements for McLeish. Sauzée, who had been suffering from an achilles tendon injury in the weeks beforehand, announced his retirement from playing in an effort to concentrate on his new job.

His time in charge was unsuccessful. Hibs only won one match in 15, and none in the 2001–02 Scottish Premier League. A win for last-placed club St Johnstone apparently prompted his sacking in February 2002, after 69 days as Hibs manager. After his sacking, Sauzée stated that he had no fear that Hibs would be relegated. This confidence was justified as Hibs defeated St Johnstone 3–0 in Bobby Williamson's first match in charge, and the club comfortably avoided relegation. The extremely brief nature of his tenure meant that it was not proven whether Sauzée would have been a good manager or not. Many Hibs fans, including former player Alan Gordon, wrote to The Scotsman newspaper to voice their disapproval of Hibs' treatment of Sauzée.

In September 2011 Ted Brack's There's Only One Sauzée, a book celebrating Franck Sauzée's time at Hibernian, was published by Black and White Publishing.

Sauzée returned to his native France after leaving Hibernian, and has since worked as a football pundit on French television. He initially worked for Canal+, a position he held for six years. Besides providing analysis for televised matches, Sauzée also appeared on a Monday night football talk show. Sauzée left Canal+ in 2008 to take a similar position with Orange, who had acquired rights to cover Ligue 1 matches. In the summer of 2012, he returned to Canal+.

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