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Luis Fernandez Takes On Guinea Head Coach Job

Luis Fernandez Takes On Guinea Head Coach Job

The Guinea Football Federation have announced the appointment of Luis Fernandez is the new coach of the national football team.

The Frenchman, who previously played for the French national team as one of the famous members of the Carré Magique or Magic Square along with fellow Les Bleu stars Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana, has been given a 20-month contract. He will be assisted in his new position by Guineans Amara Simba and Kaba Diawara.

His mandate will be to qualify the Syli Nationale to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The Guineans are often part of the 16 sides that make up the Nations Cup, but the World Cup has always eluded them.

Fernandez has been in contact with the Guinea Federation for some time, with a talk show of his standing out as a point of contention in the negotiations, but it seems that he will continue his broadcast despite his new coaching adventure.

He replaces former tactician Michel Dussuyer, who is also French. The former coach made the decision to leave the national team following his side’s 3-0 defeat to Ghana at the quarter-final stage of the 2015 AFCON.

Dussuyer led his charges through a group stage in which Guinea drew all three matches against Cote D’Ivoire, Mali and Cameroon, before being fortunate enough to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament thanks to the drawing of lots, seeing Mali return home as the unlucky casualty of that game of chance. Guinea’s luck ran out in the quarter-final against Ghana.

Fernandez has previously coached extensively in France, leading the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, while he also spent time in Spain coaching Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol.

The 55-year-old’s only national team coaching experience came in 2010 and 2011, when he was in charge of the Israel national team.