{"id":384299,"date":"2026-08-18T18:22:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/384299\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T18:22:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:22:20","slug":"patrick-vieira-returns-to-football-with-first-international-job-after-ten-months-without-a-gig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/384299\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrick Vieira returns to football with first international job after ten months without a gig"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Patrick Vieira has been announced as the new head coach of Senegal.<\/p>\n<p>It marks the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/sport\/football\/team\/113203\/arsenal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arsenal<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/sport\/football\/team\/113066\/france\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">France<\/a> legend&#8217;s return to management after leaving Genoa last November.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Genoa head coach Patrick Vieira, wearing a blue jumper, looks on during a match.\" height=\"641\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/patrick-vieira-head-coach-genoa-1034782570.jpg\" data-caption=\"Vieira steered Genoa to Serie A safety in 2024\/25\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/patrick-vieira-head-coach-genoa-1034782570.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<p>Vieira steered Genoa to Serie A safety in 2024\/25Credit: GettyA new chapter for Vieira<\/p>\n<p>Vieira succeeds Pape Thiaw, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/world-cup\/4410325\/senegal-manager-sacked-pape-thiaw-next-manager-patrick-vieira\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sacked by the Lions of Teranga<\/a> following their <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/world-cup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">World Cup<\/a> last-16 exit this summer.<\/p>\n<p>And the 50-year-old has a special connection to Senegal: although he ultimately earned 107 caps for France, winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, he was born in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.<\/p>\n<p>This will be the iconic former midfielder&#8217;s sixth frontline coaching role \u2013 and his first in international football.<\/p>\n<p>Widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders of all time, Vieira won three <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/premier-league\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Premier League<\/a> titles with <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/arsene-wenger\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arsene Wenger<\/a>&#8216;s Arsenal, captaining them to glory in the famous &#8216;Invincibles&#8217; season of 2003\/04.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE ON TALKSPORT<\/p>\n<p>He later won three <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/serie-a\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Serie A<\/a> titles and the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/champions-league\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Champions League<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/sport\/football\/team\/113079\/inter-milan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Inter Milan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Having retired from playing in 2011 after a short spell with <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/sport\/football\/team\/113098\/manchester-city\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Manchester City<\/a>, winning the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/fa-cup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FA Cup<\/a> in one of his final career appearances, Vieira went on to manage the club&#8217;s Elite Development Squad.<\/p>\n<p>He subsequently took charge of New York City and Nice before returning to the Premier League as <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/sport\/football\/team\/113043\/crystal-palace\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Crystal Palace<\/a> boss in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Dismissed by Palace towards the end of the 2022\/23 season, Vieira then took charge at Strasbourg and Genoa.<\/p>\n<p>Vieira follows in France teammates&#8217; footsteps<\/p>\n<p>The three-time Premier League champion is the latest member of France&#8217;s victorious 1998 World Cup squad to take the reins of a national team.<\/p>\n<p>Captain <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/didier-deschamps\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Didier Deschamps<\/a> became only the third person to win the World Cup as a player and manager when he led Les Bleus&#8217; to their second crown in 2018.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira looks on\" height=\"636\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c9024aa2-666d-49f7-bcdb-d35814db1d6f.jpg\" data-caption=\"Vieira led Crystal Palace to 12th place in the Premier League in 2021\/22\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c9024aa2-666d-49f7-bcdb-d35814db1d6f.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<p>Vieira led Crystal Palace to 12th place in the Premier League in 2021\/22Credit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>Having succeeded Laurent Blanc in 2012, he stood down after this summer&#8217;s tournament to be succeeded by another of his old teammates, <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/zinedine-zidane\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zinedine Zidane<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/thierry-henry\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thierry Henry<\/a> coached France to silver at the 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/olympics\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Olympics<\/a> in Paris, and goalkeeper Bernard Lama briefly managed Kenya.<\/p>\n<p>Senegal set their sights on AFCON<\/p>\n<p>Vieira&#8217;s first mission in his new job will be to guide Senegal to qualification for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.<\/p>\n<p>The Lions of Teranga were crowned continental champions for the first time at the 2021 edition and thought they had lifted the trophy again last time around, only for Morocco to be awarded the title by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) \u2013 who <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/4114088\/afcon-final-result-overturned-morocco-senegal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">overturned the result<\/a> following a <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/3914295\/senegal-players-pitch-controversy-afcon-final-chaos\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hugely controversial final<\/a> in which Senegal left the pitch in protest at refereeing decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Qualifying for the 2027 AFCON begins next month, with Senegal hosting Mozambique then travelling to Ethiopia.<\/p>\n<p>Sudan are the other nation in the Lions of Teranga&#8217;s four-team group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patrick Vieira has been announced as the new head coach of Senegal. It marks the Arsenal and France&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[48],"tags":[411,146,9717,44477,658,54833,17491,183950,7198,19771,183952,183951,183949,1080,159,14829,6463],"class_list":["post-384299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-senegal","tag-afcon","tag-africa-cup-of-nations","tag-arsenal","tag-crystal-palace","tag-france","tag-genoa","tag-manchester-city","tag-new-senegal-manager","tag-new-york-city","tag-nice","tag-patrick-vieira-new-job","tag-patrick-vieira-new-role","tag-patrick-vieira-senegal-manager","tag-premier-league","tag-senegal","tag-strasbourg","tag-world-cup"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117117907815119798","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}