Brazilian Coach Helped Shape Victorious Generation of French Players

07/10/2018 - 11h24

Of the 40 years he has spent working as a coach, Joaquim Francisco Filho, 77, dedicated 30 years helping prepare players for the French national team.

Mr. Francisco went to Clairefontaine to work as a coach back in 1988, when the training grounds of the National French Football Institute were inaugurated.

On Tuesday (the 10th), France will face Belgium at 3pm. Among the starting 11, 7 went to Clairefontaine: Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Matuidi, Pogba, Giroud and Mbappé.

He also helped players such as Papin, Cantona, Henry and Trezeguet (among others), to reach their full potential and make it on the French national team.

Mbappé and Thierry Henry are Clairefontaine disciples and from a young age they had demonstrated that they would be special players. That's precisely why the Brazilian coach said he was demanding when it came to Henry.

"I didn't just learn about soccer with Mr. Filho. He educated me. It didn't matter if we won or lost: we had an identity. We played a certain way and we respected the sport. That [approach] started flowing through my veins. As a coach, I reflect the education I was given," Henry said in an interview with The Blizzard.

In 2017, he accepted an offer to start coaching the national team of the Republic of Mauritius, which FIFA has ranked as 155th.

In 2002, Mr. Filho was hired by Manchester United to help coach the team's youth squads and to be an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson. He left Manchester United to retire back in 2005, but decided to start working again after being approached by the French soccer federation.

	Divulgação Manchester United/Getty Images/Folhapress
	Francisco Filho and Alex Ferguson

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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