Deschamps vying for player/coach EURO first
Friday, July 8, 2016
Article summary
UEFA European Championship history will be made on Sunday if Didier Deschamps, a winner of this competition as a player in 2000, steers France to glory.
Article top media content
Article body
Should Didier Deschamps guide France to victory against Portugal on Sunday, the 47-year-old will become the first man to win the UEFA European Championship as both player and coach.
Deschamps lifted the Henri Delaunay Cup in 2000, having captained Les Bleus to a 2-1 golden-goal triumph over Italy in the Rotterdam final, and he now stands 90 minutes away from claiming the title in a management role.
That would improve on the record of Berti Vogts, who was an unused squad member during West Germany's 1972 success at the four-nation tournament in Belgium, before overseeing his country's march to glory in 1996 in England.
Meanwhile, Dino Zoff kept goal for Italy when they defeated Yugoslavia after a replay in 1968, yet was the losing coach against Deschamps' France in 2000.
- Clattenburg named referee for UEFA EURO 2016 final
- Everything you need to know about France v Portugal
In the club game, Deschamps' fellow UEFA EURO 2000 winner Zinédine Zidane celebrated the equivalent UEFA Champions League double in May, when his Real Madrid side got the better of Atlético Madrid on penalties in Milan.
Zidane, a European Cup winner as a midfielder in 2002, increased to seven the list of men to have clinched the title in both capacities.