Desailly announces international retirement

Dub13

Marcel Desailly has announced his retirement from international football after a record 116 appearances for France.

The Chelsea defender looked well below his best in Portugal, starting only one game as France crashed out of Euro 2004 at the quarter-final stage, and he has decided to call it a day at the age of 35.

“The moment when it is necessary for me to stop has arrived,” Desailly said on L’Equipe.

“I am not as effective as I was; I can no longer do what I was able to do in the past. I compensate with experience where I can.”

Although he no longer appeared able to cope with the demands of international football at Euro 2004, Desailly was a mainstay of the France side that won the 1998 World Cup and the European Championships two years later.

“There were some fantastic moments, some wonderful memories and some incredible emotions,” Desailly continued.

Desailly made his debut for France against Sweden on August 22, 1993, in a qualifying match for the 1994 World Cup.

His last appearance for the team was in their 2-2 draw with Croatia in the group stages of Euro 2004.

At club level, Desailly won the Champions League title with both Marseille and AC Milan, before moving from Milan to Chelsea after the 1998 World Cup.

He is one of only three players to have won more than 100 caps for France, with Didier Deschamps (103), and Lilian Thuram (102), the other two.

Dub13

all we need now is ZIDANE to do the same,roll on France Vs Ireland.

eirebhoy

I'd prefer Thruam to retire rather than Zidane (Lizarazu is nearly certain to retire). A completely different back 4 would take a while to get used to and we should catch them in transition.:)

eyerer

damn, would've liked to see him play against ireland
could do with one of those gift goals like that he gave to prso
if he continues to play club football i'll be very surprised if its at a top flight club, i surely can't see him playing for mourinho

Seaneh

It's sad to see one of the greats retire past his best.
He should have retirted after Euro 2000 if he did he would have been regarded as one of the greatest of all time, but people are fickle and will remember his last few years instead.


That said, Chelsea would be more than happy he didn't retire, he is the main reason players like Terry and Huth are as good as they are, Terry said in an intreview he learned more from training with Desailly for 2 yerars than he did from any coach at any stage in his carrear, that's a compliment if ever I heared one.

Dewey

What a HUGE blow for Ireland now Desailly has retired. I mean it, With Duffer, and Keane going up agaisnt Desailly we would of beaten them by a few goals.

I would like to see Zidane retire now.

eyerer

Originally posted by eyerer

if he continues to play club football i'll be very surprised if its at a top flight club, i surely can't see him playing for mourinho

released on a free

Drag00n79

all we need now is ZIDANE to do the same,roll on France Vs Ireland.

Was just on the l'equipe site there. They are speculating today as to whether Zidane will follow in the steps of Thuram and Desailly and retire from international football. They feel that he will. Apparently, he's reported to have said he would only stay on if Blanc got the manager's job (and he didn't). They even have a piece from Michel Hidalgo, national coach in 1984, urging him to quit.

eirebhoy

I'm happy enough with Thuram and Desailly gone. A central partnership of Gallas and Silvestre would be shíte IMO.

Drag00n79

Thuram retiring is a great boost for us, much more so than Desailly. But if Zizou were to quit, that would be incredible. Gallas will be fine for them at the back, I think.

Big Ears

is Barthez staying on in Goal ? .

I dont fancy the French to be much good during this qualifying campaign and I expect Ireland to top the group .

Drag00n79

No, he has quit the international scene as well, I think.

Big Ears

Originally posted by Shamrok
Thuram retiring is a great boost for us, much more so than Desailly. But if Zizou were to quit, that would be incredible. Gallas will be fine for them at the back, I think.

to be fair Zidane is a shadow of his former self .
He's still a quality player but he's getting on know and with playing a lot of club games for Madrid even if he stays on I dont think he'll have the legs , even though he's got the talent .

isnt he retiring from football as a whole in a year of 2 anyway .

It would be a bit odd for an Internationel tournament to be a players last tournament .

Drag00n79

to be fair Zidane is a shadow of his former self

I wouldn't go that far. He's still one of the most creative players on the planet IMO.

Big Ears

Originally posted by Shamrok
I wouldn't go that far. He's still one of the most creative players on the planet IMO.

I agree he is one of the most creative players on the planet , but that still dosent stop him from being a shadow of his former self does it ?

Drag00n79

Well, that's the impression I got. All I'm saying is that Ireland will have a better chance against a French team without him than with him.

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Shamrok
Gallas will be fine for them at the back, I think.

Every position needs the right pairing. In midfield you need a holding midfielder and central midfielder. Up front you need an out and out striker and a forward. Defence is no different. I don't know a name for these type of players so I'll call them no.1's and no.2's.

no.1's (organiser's):
Campbell
Terry
Hyypia
Ferdinand
Cunningham
Southgate
Mellberg
Gary Breen

no.2's (do what they're told / Listeners):
Toure
Gallas
Henchoz
Silvestre
Upson
Riggot
Laursen
Babb (can't think of Sunderland's centre half's)

no.1's aren't necessarily better than no.2's but they are usually more experienced. No.1's are the captain of defenses, they organise it and always talk to their partner. No.2's are usually the lesser experienced and as they get older and more experienced usually become no.1's (but not in Babb's case, ).

You can partner 2 no.1's together (eg. Campbell - Terry) but one of them will have to do the job of organisation, not the 2 of them. Partnering 2 no.2's together would be suicide IMHO. Silvestre was shíte at being the no.1 when Rio was suspended. It's not that Rio made him look good, Silvestre wasn't ready for the position (it basically is a new position). Gallas and Silvestre could be a good partnership but it won't happen immediately and we could catch them in transition.

Big Ears

No.1's =strong centre back

No.2's =central defender comfortable with the ball at they're feet .

thats the best names for them I can come up with .

Drag00n79

Maybe they'll play three at the back.