Laurent Blanc

Laurent Robert Blanc is a known football manager from France who used to be a professional player as well. Born on November 19, 1965 in Ales, France, Blanc is currently the head coach of the French national team after Raymond Domenech left the post after the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Before holding his current position, Blanc was the manager of Brodeaux and was a successful professional player for various clubs including Barcelona, Montpellier, Marseille, and Manchester United.

Known as “Le President” because of his leadership skills, Blanc is known to be the player to score the first golden goal in the history of the World Cup. While Blanc did play in his youth, he was able to start playing club football in 1983 when Montpellier signed him to their team. Noted as a very technical football player, Blanc was able to aid Montpellier up the stakes and be included in the Division 1 in 1987. During those years, he was still an offensive midfielder, but was transferred to become a sweeper/defender after following the advice of Michel Mezy.

After Montpellier, Blanc travelled to Napoli to join Serie A. Unfortunately, Blanc felt that he was not able to fully express his talent and potential, so he went back to France after one year of playing in Napoli.

After testing several clubs, Blanc was invited to join Marseille, which proved to be a match made in heaven. Blanc took the lead and was soon able to help the group attain several victories.

Blanc was also a part of the French national team from 1989 to 2000, having 97 caps and 16 goals.