Alain Jean Giresse (born 2 August 1952) is a French football coach and former player who last managed Kosovo. Giresse was French Player of the Year in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Nominally an attacking or central midfielder, he was an intelligent playmaker who possessed fine agility and acceleration due to his short frame. He is the father of Thibault Giresse, also a football coach and former player.

International career

Giresse played for the France national team in the 1982 FIFA World Cup (fourth place) and the 1986 FIFA World Cup (third place). He was a member of the Euro 84 winning team, and alongside Michel Platini, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana, forming the team's legendary "Carré Magique" (Magic Square) in midfield.

Coaching career

Other national teams

He has been in charge of Toulouse and the Georgian national team, among others. Giresse worked as the head coach of Gabon, and was named a few months after the 2010 African Cup of Nations the Mali manager. He was the coach of Senegal national football team from 2013 to January 2015. On 7 September 2017, Giresse resigned as manager of the Mali national team. In December 2017 he was linked with the vacant Benin manager's job. In April 2018 he was one of 77 applicants for the vacant Cameroon national job. On 13 December 2018, Giresse became the manager of Tunisia. He left the role in August 2019.

Kosovo

On 23 February 2022, Kosovo appointed Giresse after agreeing to a contract until November 2023, this happened after the former coach Bernard Challandes decided to resign after weak results in October 2021. On 18 March 2022, Giresse made his first squad announcement with Kosovo for the friendly matches against Burkina Faso and Switzerland. He called-up Emir Sahiti for the first time in the squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Bordeaux France Individual

Manager

Paris Saint-Germain FAR Rabat Mali

Orders