Jean Tigana

Amadou Jean Tigana (born 23 June 1955) is a French former footballer and coach. He has played in midfield and managed professional football extensively throughout France, including 52 appearances and one goal for the France national football team during the 1980s. He most recently coached Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai Shenhua. In his prime, he was a tireless central midfielder, renowned as one of the best midfielders in the world during the 1980s. Tigana started his professional career as a player at Toulon, having been spotted fairly late playing part-time while employed in a spaghetti factory and then as a postman. He moved to Lyon in 1978 and then to Bordeaux in a $4 million transfer. In Bordeaux's midfield for eight years, Tigana helped them to three league titles and three French cups, as well as taking them close to European glory on two occasions, losing in the semi-final of the European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in 1985 and 1987 respectively. He moved in 1989 to Olympique Marseille, and ended his career there following the 1990–91 season, winning two consecutive league titles, and reaching the European Cup Final during the latter season, only to be defeated by Red Star Belgrade on penalties following a 0–0 draw. Tigana was born in Bamako, French Sudan (now Mali) to a Malian father and a French mother. He represented France, and as an international Tigana joined Michel Platini, Luis Fernandez and Alain Giresse in what was termed "the Magic Square" (le Carré Magique) – one of the greatest midfield foursomes of all time. He was part of the France national football team that won UEFA Euro 1984 on home soil, defeating Spain in the final. Tigana's single international goal came against Hungary in the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals, in which France managed a third-place finish. Tigana was a world-class box-to box midfielder, who usually played in the centre, and who was noted for his great movement, teamwork, pace and tireless stamina. Although Tigana was mainly responsible for his team's defensive duties, he also often ventured forward to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. His work ethic and expansive range of passing, from both long and short range, made him an excellent distributor which, when combined with his close control and simplistic yet efficient dribbling technique, made him a world–class midfielder. He was also well known for his contributions in the more advanced areas of the pitch, due to his ability to spot and execute defence-splitting passes. For his first managerial role, Tigana returned to Lyon, coaching them from 1993 to 1995, before moving on to AS Monaco, where he remained until 1999. They were French league champions in 1997 and Champions League semi-finalists a year later, beating Manchester United in the quarter-finals. ... Source: Article "Jean Tigana" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Birthday: June 23, 1955