Didier Deschamps - International Career

International Career

Receiving his first international call-up from Michel Platini on 29 April 1989 against Yugoslavia, Deschamps started his international career in what was a dark time for the French team as they failed to qualify for the World Cup in both 1990 and 1994. When new team coach Aimé Jacquet began to rebuild the team for Euro 96, he initially selected Manchester United star Eric Cantona as captain. After Cantona earned a year-long suspension in January 1995, the make-up of the team changed dramatically, with veterans Cantona, Jean-Pierre Papin, and David Ginola being dropped in favour of younger players such as Zinedine Zidane. Deschamps, as one of the few remaining veterans, was chosen to lead what would be later be called the "Golden Generation". He first captained France in 1996 in a friendly match against Germany as a warmup for Euro 96. During that tournament, held in England, he led them all the way to the semi-finals, their best finish in an international tournament since the 1986 World Cup. In 1998, Deschamps captained France as they won the 1998 World Cup on home soil in Paris, holding an integral role in the team. Propelled by the momentum of this triumph, Deschamps also captained France as they won Euro 2000, giving them the distinction of being the first national team to hold both the World Cup and Euro titles since West Germany did so in 1974. Following the tournament, Deschamps announced his retirement from international football, making his second last appearance in a ceremonial match against a FIFA XI in August 2000, which resulted in 5-1 victory. His final appearance was against England. At the time of his retirement Deschamps held the record for the most appearances for France, though this has since been surpassed by Marcel Desailly, Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram. In total, Deschamps earned 103 caps and scored four goals. Deschamps was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. Deschamps was once derisively described by Cantona as "the water-carrier" by which Cantona meant that Deschamps only existed to pass the ball to "more talented" players.