Domenech set for France extension
The French football federation (FFF) have announced their unanimous decision to renew the contract of coach Raymond Domenech after he led Les Bleus to the World Cup final.
Domenech, 54, who took over from Jacques Santini in 2004, was under immense pressure before the start of the World Cup, with speculation rife that he had lost the backing of several of the squad’s key players.
However, he steered France to wins over Spain, Brazil and Portugal en route to a place in the final, where they lost to Italy in a penalty shoot-out on Sunday.
“The FFF federal board consider the French team’s performance at the World Cup was excellent and unanimously asked Raymond Domenech to continue his mission at the helm of the team,” said a statement on www.fff.fr.
“The federal board was informed by (president) Jean-Pierre Escalettes of Raymond Domenech’s desire to keep his job and have asked the president to finalise the details of the contract extension with Mr Domenech.”
The length of his new contract has yet to be determined.
France will start their Euro 2008 qualification campaign on September 2 against Georgia before taking on Italy four days later at the Stade de France.
