29 April 2015 10:48
Former Paris Saint-Germain and Athletic Bilbao coach Luiz Fernandez announced on Tuesday he will replace fellow Frenchman Michel Dussuyer as manager of Guinea.
“I will be accompanied by (former players) Amara Simba and Kaba Diawara. My goal is to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations 2017.
“Depending on the results, we’ll see how the rest of the story unfolds,”
the 55-year-old told beIN Sports, the Qatari-owned sport channel for which he is a consultant.
Fernandez has been out of a job since failing to qualify Israel for Euro 2012.
As a player, Fernandez earned 60 caps and scored six goals for France, where he formed ‘The Magic Square’ with Jean Tigana, Michel Platini and Alain Giresse and won the Euro 1984 before reaching the semi-finals of the 1986 World Cup.
As a manager, he is mostly credited with bringing Ronaldinho to Europe but also won the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996 with PSG.
Fernandez led Bilbao to second place in the 1998 La Liga title race.
Guinea, nicknamed Le Syli (The Elephants), reached the quarter-finals of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, their best placing since finishing runners up in 1976.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
