Marcel Desailly
Encyclopedia
Marcel Desailly is a retired Ghanaian born French footballer
and star of the France national football team
squad, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup
and Euro 2000. He also enjoyed a distinguished career at club level with several major European clubs.
who adopted all the children (the former professional footballer Seth Adonkor
, seven years his elder, was a half-brother of his). He arrived in France as a four-year-old and, following Adonkor's lead, began his career at FC Nantes. There, as part of the famed FC Nantes youth programme, he played alongside a young Didier Deschamps
, who became his closest friend. Desailly turned professional in 1986, two years after his half-brother had died in a car accident. In 1992, he moved to Olympique de Marseille
, where he reunited with Deschamps, and won the UEFA Champions League
the following year. In 1994, while playing for AC Milan
, he again won the Cup (scoring in the final himself), being the first player to win the Cup in consecutive seasons with different clubs. During his time in Milan he won two Italian league titles, in 1994 and 1996. Although he prefers to be a defender
, he also played midfield
for some time while being at A.C. Milan.
Desailly then moved to the English club Chelsea
in 1998 for £4.6m, where he captained the side and played centre-back until the end of the 2003–04 season. It was at Chelsea that Desailly formed a formidable partnership with Frank Leboeuf
.
He picked up one major trophy in his six seasons with Chelsea, being on the winning side their FA Cup
triumph over Aston Villa
in 2000.
Desailly was snapped up by Qatar
i outfit Al-Gharafa in 2004. He was appointed as the club captain and under the French coach Bruno Metsu
they won the Qatar League in 2005. He then joined Qatar S.C., leading them to second place in the league before retiring from professional football.
. He has since then pulled out of the race to coach the Ghana National Team, although the option is likely to keep coming up. He has opened (June 2011) a sports facility in Ghana called Lizzy's Sport Complex, in memory of his late mother, geared to young players and children in particular. The facilities are world class with many African National teams using the centre to camp and prepare for international tournaments.
, albeit being sent off in the final. Like other team members, he was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur
in 1998. Two years later success continued, as France won Euro 2000
. After the tournament, Desailly was made captain of the national team, following the retirement of Didier Deschamps
. In 2001, he led France to victory in the Confederations Cup
.
In April 2003, Desailly surpassed the record for the number of appearances for the French team, a number which eventually reached 116 when he announced his retirement from international football following Euro 2004
. However, that record was broken during the 2006 World Cup by Lilian Thuram
.
Marseille
A.C. Milan
Chelsea
Al Gharafa
France
|1986/87||rowspan="6"|Nantes||rowspan="6"|Division 1
||13||0||||||colspan="2"|-||2||0||15||0
|-
|1987/88||11||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||11||0
|-
|1988/89||36||1||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||36||1
|-
|1989/90||36||1||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||36||1
|-
|1990/91||34||1||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||34||1
|-
|1991/92||32||2||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||32||2
|-
|1992/93||rowspan="2"|Marseille
||rowspan="2"|Division 1
||31||1||||||colspan="2"|-||10||1||41||2
|-
|1993/94||16||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||16||0
|-
|1993/94||rowspan="5"|AC Milan||rowspan="5"|Serie A
||21||1||7||0||colspan="2"|-||6||2||34||3
|-
|1994/95||22||1||7||0||colspan="2"|-||10||0||39||1
|-
|1995/96||32||2||14||1||colspan="2"|-||7||0||53||3
|-
|1996/97||29||1||7||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0||41||1
|-
|1997/98||32||0||14||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||46||1
|-
|1998/99||rowspan="6"|Chelsea||rowspan="6"|Premier League||30||0||||||||||7||1||37||1
|-
|1999/00||22||1||||||||||16||0||38||1
|-
|2000/01||34||2||||||||||1||0||35||2
|-
|2001/02||24||1||8||0||2||0||2||0||36||1
|-
|2002/03||31||2||1||0||0||0||1||0||33||2
|-
|2003/04||15||0||1||0||1||0||8||0||25||0
|-
|2004/05||Al-Gharafa||Stars League||28||15||||||||||||||28||15
|-
|2005/06||Qatar||Stars League||7||0||||||||||||||7||0
209||6||||||colspan="2"|-||12||1||221||7
136||5||49||2||colspan="2"|-||28||2||213||9
156||6||10||0||3||0||35||1||204||7
35||15||||||||||||||35||15
536||32||59||3||3||0||75||4||673||39
|}
|-
|1993||4||0
|-
|1994||7||0
|-
|1995||7||1
|-
|1996||12||0
|-
|1997||7||0
|-
|1998||13||1
|-
|1999||11||0
|-
|2000||16||0
|-
|2001||12||1
|-
|2002||13||0
|-
|2003||9||0
|-
|2004||5||0
|-
!Total||116||3
|}
predominantly giving his opinion from the touchline at both half time and full time as opposed to residing in the studio with Alan Hansen
, Alan Shearer
and Martin O'Neill
.
He worked for BBC Sport
in the United Kingdom during the 2006 World Cup
, as one of their Match of the Day
analysts.
He also worked for BBC Sport at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations and Euro 2008 and is a regular commentator for French television channel Canal Plus.
He also became a spokesperson for sports betting website Betclic.
In 2010 Desailly joined the ITV Sport
team for their World Cup
coverage from South Africa.
was released for mobile phones in 2003.
. He is married to Virginie and has a daughter, Victoria, and three sons.
Football in France
Football is the most popular sport in France. The Fédération Française de Football is the national governing bodyand is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of association football in the country, both professional and amateur...
and star of the France national football team
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...
squad, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
and Euro 2000. He also enjoyed a distinguished career at club level with several major European clubs.
Club career
Born as Odenke Abbey to Ghanaian parents, Marcel had his name changed when his mother married the head of the French Consulate in AccraAccra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
who adopted all the children (the former professional footballer Seth Adonkor
Seth Adonkor
Seth Adonkor was a French football player of Ghanaian extraction.He was the half-brother of Marcel Desailly, whom later followed him at the FC Nantes Atlantique...
, seven years his elder, was a half-brother of his). He arrived in France as a four-year-old and, following Adonkor's lead, began his career at FC Nantes. There, as part of the famed FC Nantes youth programme, he played alongside a young Didier Deschamps
Didier Deschamps
Didier Claude Deschamps is a retired French footballer and current manager of Marseille. He played as a defensive midfielder. As an international, he assisted France with victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...
, who became his closest friend. Desailly turned professional in 1986, two years after his half-brother had died in a car accident. In 1992, he moved to Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
, where he reunited with Deschamps, and won the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
the following year. In 1994, while playing for AC Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
, he again won the Cup (scoring in the final himself), being the first player to win the Cup in consecutive seasons with different clubs. During his time in Milan he won two Italian league titles, in 1994 and 1996. Although he prefers to be a defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
, he also played midfield
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
for some time while being at A.C. Milan.
Desailly then moved to the English club Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in 1998 for £4.6m, where he captained the side and played centre-back until the end of the 2003–04 season. It was at Chelsea that Desailly formed a formidable partnership with Frank Leboeuf
Frank Leboeuf
Franck Alain James Leboeuf or Lebœuf is a former French international footballer who played as a defender...
.
He picked up one major trophy in his six seasons with Chelsea, being on the winning side their FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
triumph over Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
in 2000.
Desailly was snapped up by Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
i outfit Al-Gharafa in 2004. He was appointed as the club captain and under the French coach Bruno Metsu
Bruno Metsu
Bruno Metsu , also known as Abdul Karim, is a retired French footballer and is the current manager of Qatari side Al-Gharafa...
they won the Qatar League in 2005. He then joined Qatar S.C., leading them to second place in the league before retiring from professional football.
Legacy
Marcel Desailly is currently resident in Ghana. Desailly is considered one of the most accomplished players of the game and one of the best players of the past two decades, having won virtually every major team award. He is currently a Laureus Academy member and OrphanAid Africa Lifetime ambassador to Ghana and France (since 2005) .He was mentioned as a possible candidate for the coaching position of Ghana's national teamGhana national football team
The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
. He has since then pulled out of the race to coach the Ghana National Team, although the option is likely to keep coming up. He has opened (June 2011) a sports facility in Ghana called Lizzy's Sport Complex, in memory of his late mother, geared to young players and children in particular. The facilities are world class with many African National teams using the centre to camp and prepare for international tournaments.
International career
Desailly made the controversial decision to play for France, instead of his home country of Ghana. He has often said that he feels totally French and while having ties with his native country, never even considered playing for another country than France. This stance was restated in his autobiography, published in 2002. He made his international debut in 1993, but was not established as a first choice defender until 1996. He was an important part of the French team which won the 1998 World Cup1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
, albeit being sent off in the final. Like other team members, he was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1998. Two years later success continued, as France won Euro 2000
2000 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organized by UEFA, association football's governing body in Europe....
. After the tournament, Desailly was made captain of the national team, following the retirement of Didier Deschamps
Didier Deschamps
Didier Claude Deschamps is a retired French footballer and current manager of Marseille. He played as a defensive midfielder. As an international, he assisted France with victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...
. In 2001, he led France to victory in the Confederations Cup
2001 FIFA Confederations Cup
-Group B:---------------------Knockout stage:-Semi-finals:-----Third place play-off:-Final:-Awards:-Top scorers:2 goals Shaun Murphy Éric Carrière Robert Pirès Patrick Vieira Sylvain Wiltord Takayuki Suzuki Hwang Sun-Hong...
.
In April 2003, Desailly surpassed the record for the number of appearances for the French team, a number which eventually reached 116 when he announced his retirement from international football following Euro 2004
2004 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in...
. However, that record was broken during the 2006 World Cup by Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram is a retired professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team, and one of the twenty most capped players of all time.He played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A with both...
.
Club
MarseilleOlympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
- UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
: 19931993 UEFA Champions League FinalThe 1993 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match between French club Marseille and Italian club Milan, played on 26 May 1993 at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany....
A.C. Milan
- Serie ASerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
: 1993–94, 1995–96 - UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
: 1994 - UEFA Super Cup: 19941994 UEFA Super CupThe 1994 UEFA Super Cup was contested between A.C. Milan of Italy and Arsenal of England . It was won by Milan, 2–0 on aggregate....
ChelseaChelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
: 2000 - FA Charity Shield: 20002000 FA Charity ShieldThe 2000 FA Charity Shield was the 78th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. The match was played between Manchester United, who won the 1999–2000 Premier League, and Chelsea, who won the 1999–2000 FA...
- UEFA Super Cup: 19981998 UEFA Super CupThe 1998 UEFA Super Cup was a match that was played on 28 August 1998 at Stade Louis II, Monaco, contested between Cup Winners' Cup holders Chelsea and Champions League winners Real Madrid. Chelsea won the match 1–0. Guus Hiddink manager of Real Madrid went on to manage Chelsea to win the...
Al Gharafa
- Qatari League: 2004–05
International
FranceFrance national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...
- World Cup: 19981998 FIFA World Cup FinalThe 1998 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that was played on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France in St-Denis to determine the winner of the 1998 FIFA World Cup a global football tournament held every four years...
- UEFA European Football ChampionshipUEFA European Football ChampionshipThe UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...
: 20002000 UEFA European Football ChampionshipThe 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organized by UEFA, association football's governing body in Europe.... - FIFA Confederations CupFIFA Confederations CupThe FIFA Confederations Cup is an association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup winner and the host nation, to bring the number of teams...
: 20012001 FIFA Confederations Cup-Group B:---------------------Knockout stage:-Semi-finals:-----Third place play-off:-Final:-Awards:-Top scorers:2 goals Shaun Murphy Éric Carrière Robert Pirès Patrick Vieira Sylvain Wiltord Takayuki Suzuki Hwang Sun-Hong...
, 20032003 FIFA Confederations CupThe 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivien Foé, who died of heart failure in his side's...
Individual
- Overall Team of the Decade – Premier League 10 Seasons AwardsPremier League 10 Seasons AwardsThe Premier League 10 Seasons Awards were a set of English football awards which marked the first 10 years of competition in the Premier League, the top-level domestic league competition of professional football in England...
(1992/3 – 2001/2)
Career statistics
|-|1986/87||rowspan="6"|Nantes||rowspan="6"|Division 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
||13||0||||||colspan="2"|-||2||0||15||0
|-
|1987/88||11||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||11||0
|-
|1988/89||36||1||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||36||1
|-
|1989/90||36||1||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||36||1
|-
|1990/91||34||1||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||34||1
|-
|1991/92||32||2||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||32||2
|-
|1992/93||rowspan="2"|Marseille
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
||rowspan="2"|Division 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
||31||1||||||colspan="2"|-||10||1||41||2
|-
|1993/94||16||0||||||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||16||0
|-
|1993/94||rowspan="5"|AC Milan||rowspan="5"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||21||1||7||0||colspan="2"|-||6||2||34||3
|-
|1994/95||22||1||7||0||colspan="2"|-||10||0||39||1
|-
|1995/96||32||2||14||1||colspan="2"|-||7||0||53||3
|-
|1996/97||29||1||7||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0||41||1
|-
|1997/98||32||0||14||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||46||1
|-
|1998/99||rowspan="6"|Chelsea||rowspan="6"|Premier League||30||0||||||||||7||1||37||1
|-
|1999/00||22||1||||||||||16||0||38||1
|-
|2000/01||34||2||||||||||1||0||35||2
|-
|2001/02||24||1||8||0||2||0||2||0||36||1
|-
|2002/03||31||2||1||0||0||0||1||0||33||2
|-
|2003/04||15||0||1||0||1||0||8||0||25||0
|-
|2004/05||Al-Gharafa||Stars League||28||15||||||||||||||28||15
|-
|2005/06||Qatar||Stars League||7||0||||||||||||||7||0
209||6||||||colspan="2"|-||12||1||221||7
136||5||49||2||colspan="2"|-||28||2||213||9
156||6||10||0||3||0||35||1||204||7
35||15||||||||||||||35||15
536||32||59||3||3||0||75||4||673||39
|}
|-
|1993||4||0
|-
|1994||7||0
|-
|1995||7||1
|-
|1996||12||0
|-
|1997||7||0
|-
|1998||13||1
|-
|1999||11||0
|-
|2000||16||0
|-
|2001||12||1
|-
|2002||13||0
|-
|2003||9||0
|-
|2004||5||0
|-
!Total||116||3
|}
Post-playing career
Desailly's autobiography, Capitaine, was published in France by Stock in 2002.Media work
Following retirement, Desailly became a pundit for BBC SportBBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...
predominantly giving his opinion from the touchline at both half time and full time as opposed to residing in the studio with Alan Hansen
Alan Hansen
Alan David Hansen is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, Liverpool and Scotland...
, Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...
and Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...
.
He worked for BBC Sport
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...
in the United Kingdom during the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
, as one of their Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
analysts.
He also worked for BBC Sport at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations and Euro 2008 and is a regular commentator for French television channel Canal Plus.
He also became a spokesperson for sports betting website Betclic.
In 2010 Desailly joined the ITV Sport
ITV Sport
ITV Sport is a sport producer and brand name owned by ITV plc. It was formed from the amalgamation of Granada Sport, Carlton's sports department and ISN, the sports division of London News Network. The company produces Champions League and FA Cup Football, along with coverage of England's national...
team for their World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
coverage from South Africa.
Licensed Merchandise
A mobile video game entitled Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer, developed by GameloftGameloft
Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world....
was released for mobile phones in 2003.
Personal
Desailly is a member of the Ga ethnic groupGa people
The Ga-Adangbe are an ethnic group in the West African nation of Ghana. It is part of the Dangme ethnic group. The Ga people are grouped as part of theGa–Dangme ethnolinguistic group. They speak Kwa languages...
. He is married to Virginie and has a daughter, Victoria, and three sons.