The Best Footballers

Marcel Desailly (born September 7, 1968 in Accra, Ghana as Odenke Abbey) is a former French football player and a former star of the French national football team, with whom he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000. He also enjoyed a distinguished career at club level with several European clubs.


Desailly arrived in France as a 4-year-old after being adopted by a French diplomat and his wife, and began his career in FC Nantes, turning professional in 1986. In 1992, he moved to Olympique de Marseille, and won the European Cup the following year. In 1994, while a member of A.C. Milan, he again won the Cup, being the first player to win the Cup in consecutive seasons with different clubs. (Desailly’s team had defeated Milan in the 1993 European Cup final, also making him the first player to transfer to the Finals opposing side.) 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.

Desailly then moved to the English club Chelsea, where he played centre-back until the end of the 2003-04 season. After Euro 2004, he retired from international football as the all-time leader in appearances for France (116). Desailly’s record has since been surpassed by fellow defender Lilian Thuram.

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 being mentioned as a possible candidate for the coaching position of Ghana’s national team.

Desailly 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 FIFA World Cup, an achievement for which he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur. 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.

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