Who's who among AFCON qualifying coaches
World Cup winner Patrick Vieira headlines a lengthy list of new coaches in charge of African national teams as the group qualifiers for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals kick off.
Vieira takes charge of Senegal, where he was born, as it looks to recover from a disappointing World Cup that cost its former coach, Pape Bouna Thiaw, his job.
A total of 21 new coaches will be in charge this week as 48 countries begin the group phase of the qualifiers. The list includes six of the 10 African countries who competed at the World Cup.
Vieira was only a child when he and his mother left Dakar for France, whom he helped win the 1998 World Cup.
“I have lots of flashes, such as the place where I used to play football with a tennis ball,” he said after returning to the country as an adult.
However, there is no home debut for Vieira this month with Senegal playing Mozambique and Ethiopia away and then playing a friendly against the Comoros in Marseille.
Winning Cup of Nations coaches Aliou Cisse (Senegal 2021) and Herve Renard (Zambia 2012 and Ivory Coast 2015) have new jobs, with Cisse coaching Angola, which faces Egypt in Cairo on Saturday. Renard has an equally tough return to the role of Ivory Coast coach as it hosts neighbour Ghana.
Renard was drafted in as an emergency to coach Tunisia at the World Cup, after Sabri Lamouchi was dismissed off the back of a heavy defeat in its first game. The North African nation has since appointed Moin Chaabani, a former international defender, to revive its fortunes.
Sebastien Migne is the new coach of Gabon, which begins its campaign away to Morocco on Saturday. The Frenchman should know its opponent well, having coached Haiti when it twice led Morocco in a World Cup group game in Atlanta before losing 4-2.
There is also a return for 78 year-old Claude Le Roy, as coach of Congo, which is away against Namibia on Friday. Le Roy last coached Togo five years ago.
It will be the veteran French coach’s 12th national team appointment and a second stint with the Congolese, where he was coach from 2013 to 2015.
Le Roy holds the record for the most tournament appearances (9) and matches (38) coached at the Cup of Nations finals.
