We call it the “DD pussy”! Didier Deschamps has the reputation of often being lucky in the draws or throughout his professional career.
[Mis à jour le 1 avril 2022 à 13h38] “DD’s cat”, “Deschamps’ cat”, many are the nicknames of the “luck” that has accompanied Didier Deschamps for a few years and the beginning of his mandate with the France team. To see if this continues today at 6:00 p.m. French time for the draw for the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, where France, reigning world champion is expected to succeed itself.
Appearing for the first time in 2012 when the Blues had drawn Ukraine in the play-offs of the 2014 World Cup instead of Portugal or Croatia, the “chance of DD” was strongly criticized during the draw for the group stages of the World Cup in Brazil. The Blues find themselves in the pool of Switzerland, Honduras and Ecuador, a relatively “easy” pool for the France team. Michel Platini and FIFA were accused at this time of favoring Karim Benzema’s teammates. At Euro 2016 organized in France, Didier Deschamps and his players find themselves in a pool, once again very affordable with Romania, Albania and Switzerland. But it is during this Europe championship organized “at home” that the expression will be publicized. After passing the pools, the Blues face Ireland in the round of 16 then Iceland in the quarters, hard to imagine more complicated. All this while having an extra day of rest before each meeting.
Asked about this before the 2018 World Cup, Didier Deschamps did not want to remember only the luck he can have in competitions: “That I’m often in the right place at the right time? I don’t know but I’m not going to complain.” Will the “DD pussy” be back at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which runs from November 21 to December 18? In the meantime, the draw for the group stage of the World Cup could pit the France team against Germany or the Netherlands.
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Didier Deschamps was born on October 15, 1968, in Bayonne, a city where he grew up with his parents Pierre and Ginette, and his older brother Philippe. After joining the FC Nantes training center in 1983, he quickly moved into the position of defensive midfielder. During his time in Loire-Atlantique, he had the happiness of meeting Claude, his future wife, but also the misfortune of losing his brother Philippe, victim of a plane crash on December 21, 1987, then his father-in-law, who died of a heart attack three days later. At the end of the five years spent under the colors of Nantes, he was transferred to Olympique de Marseille. Loaned to the Girondins de Bordeaux during the 1990-1991 season, he returned to Marseille in 1991 to win and become club captain. With OM, he won the Champions League in 1993, and two French championship titles in 1990 and 1992. In 1994, he joined Juventus in Turin where, with Zinedine Zidane, he won eleven titles, including one new Champions League in 1996 and three Italian league titles. At the same time, called up to the France team since 1989, he became captain of the national team in 1994 and established himself as the relay on the field of the coach Aimé Jacquet. With the Blues, he won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. He signed for Chelsea in 1999, then for Valencia in 2000. At the end of the season, he retired as a player.
In 2001, he was appointed coach at Monaco, a club with which he played in the Champions League final in 2004. In 2006, he coached Juventus Turin for a season, relegated to Division 2. After a two-year break, he returned to OM where he won five titles, including that of French champion in 2010. He left the club in 2012 to take the reins of the French team, which he took to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where France reached the quarter-finals. In 2016, the Blues are in the final for the Euro, beaten in overtime by Portugal (1-0). The French team takes its revenge two years later, winning its second World Cup in Russia. After a mixed start to the competition, victory in the round of 16 against Argentina propelled the Blues to the final, where they dominated Croatia (4-2). Didier Deschamps then qualified the Blues for Euro 2021 where they are among the big favorites in the competition.
According to figures published by the Dutch media Zoomin TV in 2018, Didier Deschamps would receive a salary of 3.4 million euros (excluding bonuses) from the French Football Federation. A few months later, during an interview with Le Parisien, the coach of the Blues had however refused to confirm these figures. “I won’t tell you, because it’s indecent, he explained. It’s impossible to talk about that. I’ve been aware for many years that I’m a privileged person. I’m not ashamed, Quite the contrary. I could argue, but Mr. and Mrs. Everybody can’t hear that, because they’re in trouble.”
As a player, Didier Deschamps was part of the team that failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, following the cruel defeat against Bulgaria at the Parc des Princes in November 1993. Then appointed captain by the new coach Aimé Jacquet, the midfielder led the Blues to the first victory in the World Cup, at home in 1998. After starting his career as a club coach, Deschamps took the reins of the France team after the Euro 2012. He brought order to the national team and, after difficult qualifications and a snatched place in the play-offs against Ukraine, managed to hoist the Blues into the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Brazil. In 2018, Deschamps patiently built his team, depriving himself of Karim Benzema but relying on the young Kylian Mbappé. Result: a second title of world champion, this time on the bench, after a big victory in the final against Croatia (4-2).
After his training in Nantes, Didier Deschamps joined Olympique de Marseille at the age of 21. After a complicated season, he was then loaned to Bordeaux. The midfielder stands up to Bernard Tapie, who wants to sell him to PSG. Deschamps persists and wins the right to start the season with OM. Two seasons later, the young player became the first captain of a French team to lift the Champions League, on May 26, 1993. He left the club a year later to join Juventus Turin. In 2009, Didier Deschamps returned to OM as first team coach. In his first year, the technician achieved a double League Cup – Championship and put an end to a 17-year drought without a trophy for OM. Deschamps will leave Marseille in 2012, with 2 more League Cups on the clock, but undermined by internal tensions.
Very discreet about his private life, Didier Deschamps has been married to Claude for over thirty years. Met in Nantes during their studies, the couple have a child, Dylan, born in 1996. Despite a common passion between father and son, Dylan studied in the financial sector and launched his start-up called App4Media.