Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines (France) (AFP)

He defines himself as a "man in the shadows", but the star of the world champions also shines thanks to him.

Guy Stéphan, the lifelong assistant to Didier Deschamps, offers "two eyes and two ears" precious to the coach of the Blues, with whom he maintains a "total complicity".

After having worn out his crampons at Guingamp, Rennes or even Le Havre, the former 64-year-old attacking midfielder has built a rich second life on the benches of Lyon, Besiktas in Turkey or even Senegal, a selection he has led during the 2004 African Cup of Nations.

Often assistant, sometimes number 1, the Breton with the round face and bald head joined the staff of the France team for the first time in March 2000, at a time when Deschamps was captain of the reigning world champions.

"It was in preparation for Euro-2000. I joined Roger Lemerre's staff, we had our first exchanges at that time. I admit that I couldn't think I was going, nine years older later, to become his assistant for at least ten years ", told in 2019 the one who accompanied" DD "in Marseille (2009-2012) then with the Blues.

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Stéphan was far from imagining such a common story, but "I was pretty sure he was going to become a coach, he had all the qualities for," he told AFP.

"He knew how to lead, to command, he was already keen on tactics."

Twenty years later, Stéphan is preparing to live his 150th match as an assistant coach of the France team, Tuesday against Bulgaria in preparation for the Euro (June 11-July 11), his seventh final phase of a great competition including CAN-2004.

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- Humor -

Close to the locker room, intimate with the coach, the native of Ploumilliau in the Côtes-d'Armor acts as a filter between the two camps, ensuring a certain independence and freedom of speech.

With the players, "Didier does not ask me to send messages, it is according to my feelings. I only send him what is necessary, the elements which, in my eyes, can be useful to him", he deciphered at the beginning May from AFP.

In his book "La vie en bleu", the former press manager of the France team Philippe Tournon affirms that "their complicity, especially not ostentatious, is total".

Vis-à-vis Deschamps, the Breton is "his shadow more than his deputy, his big brother, his confidant," he writes.

Make Deschamps talk about his team and he will almost certainly have a good word for his assistant.

AFP experienced this in the spring by questioning him about the absence of a mental trainer in his staff.

"I like to have the people in front of me, plus two eyes and two ears which are to my left," he had slipped, glancing at Stéphan, sitting at his side.

As hard-working as he is a joker, the coach's accomplice is sometimes responsible for reframing players, often with "a dose of humor", and bringing the contradiction to the boss of the Blues if necessary.

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- "Alert launcher" -

"A deputy is a man in the shadows, he is also a whistleblower. The deputy must say what he sees, he must discuss with his N.1, argue with him. must not be someone who says yes to everything, ”he described in 2019.

"Besides, it couldn't have continued between us if he hadn't taken into account what I may have said at times. He makes the final decision but he takes into account what I can argue, whether in the functioning of the staff, the observation of a player, the construction of a training session, the choice of a base camp ".

By dint of rubbing shoulders with Deschamps, the sixty-year-old adopted even his speech and his obsession for victory.

"I would have liked time to stop a bit on July 15, 2018 (in the final of the Russian World Cup, Editor's note), but it is not possible, we did not find the machine. It remains memories, and when there are memories, you also have to think about the objectives. And the next one will be to think about the Euro and go as far as possible, "he said a year and a half after the world title.

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July 11, 2021, date of the final of the Euro, surely already occupies his minds.

© 2021 AFP