PARIS Roger Lemerre was appointed France's soccer coach on Monday, stepping out from the shadow of Aime Jacquet who guided the team to victory in the World Cup final in Paris on July 12. Lemerre, 57, had been Jacquet's deputy since January and it would have taken a coup de theatre for his name not to have emerged from the hat as the new man in charge.

His appointment represented a vote for continuity and a seamless succession on the bench. Since Jacquet stood down on the day after his side were crowned world champions at the Stade de France, the high-profile candidates for his job have been whittled away. Monaco Coach Jean Tigana was long considered the front-runner, while others included AJ Auxerre veteran Guy Roux and former Nantes boss Jean-Claude Suaudeau. Lemerre, a low-key choice with a good coaching record, was favored by the French Football Federation board, including President Claude Simonet. He is similar to Jacquet in manner and ideas, quiet, hard-working and well-liked by the squad captained by Didier Deschamps, who had hoped Jacquet could be persuaded to stay on.

Lemerre's appointment met with resistance from league president Noel le Graet, who favored Tigana. But Tigana's preference for club football with Monaco, the side he guided to the French league in 1997, helped clear the way for Lemerre. Lemerre is a former Nantes, Nancy and RC Lens player capped six times by his country but is untested as a coach at the very top level.

His main international success was taking France to the World Military Games title in 1995. At club level, Lemerre began his coaching career with Red Star, currently in the French second division, and helped RC Lens, crowned French champions two months before France's World Cup victory, win promotion to the first division in 1978. Lemerre also had two spells with Paris FC, was with Strasbourg from 1981 to 1985 and L'Esperance of Tunisia in 1986.

(Reuter)