Eight coaches who played in FIFA World Cup

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Didier Deschamps won FIFA World Cup with France in 1998

Bengaluru, June 10: The FIFA World Cup 2018 is right upon us and all the qualified nations are set to take centre stage for the biggest football extravaganza, which will be held in Russia from June 14 to July 15.

It is one of the highest honours to represent your country in the World Cup and it is an added privilege to coach your national side in the prestigious competition. While there might be quite an elite list of players on the plane to Russia, there are a few coaches who have donned the jersey for their national side before and are now calling the shots from the sidelines.

In this article we take a look at a list of coaches, who are part of the 2018 Russia World Cup that have represented their country as a player in an earlier edition of the tournament.

Didier Deschamps: France

With such an immense depth in squad at his disposal, Deschamps is one of the favorites to win the World Cup. During his playing days, Deschamps played as a defensive midfielder across the top leagues in France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

He is probably the most decorated man in this list, earning 103 caps for France and captaining them to victories in the 1998 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He will be looking to join another list of elite people, who have won the World Cup as both player and coach.

Aliou Cisse: Player: Senegal

The former Paris Saint-Germain player can largely be credited for the current success of Senegal. Cisse has been Senegal's manager since 2015, when he was promoted from his role as assistant to take over from Frenchman Alain Giresse.

He is famously remembered for his role as captain in the Senegal side that caused one of the biggest shocks in World Cup when they beat reigning champions France and reached the quarter-finals in 2002. Senegal's coaching staff also features former goalkeeper Tony Sylva and former defenders Omar Daf and Lamine Diatta from the World Cup 2002 squad.

Gareth Southgate: England

Another man alongside Didier Deschamps to feature in the 1998 World Cup as well as UEFA Euro 2000 is Englishman, Gareth Southgate, who has a point to prove in this World Cup.

Despite having world class talents over the past two decades, England's only World Cup win came 52 years ago. Southgate boasts a pretty young and inexperienced side in this World Cup. The England squad have an average age of 26 and average caps of 20 in this squad.

Stanislav Cherchesov: Russia

Appointed in 2016 with a huge task in hand, the former USSR goalkeeper has been assigned with expectation to take the host nation at least to the semi-final of this World Cup.

Although just receiving 39 caps for his national team, Cherchesov is the only person in this list to have played two World Cups. Cherchesov represented Russia in the 1994 and 2002 World Cups, while he also played in the UEFA Euro 1996. Cherchesov additionally played eight times for USSR before their disintegration.

Julen Lopetegui: Spain

After a forgettable 2014 World Cup, where Spain were knocked out from the Group Stage by suffering humiliating 5-1 defeat to Netherlands and 2-0 defeat to Chile and a mediocre display at the Euro 2016, Spain appointed Julen Lopetegui in preparation for Russia 2018.

Lopetegui features not only in this list, he is part of another elite list of players to play for both Real Madrid and Barcelona. He represented Spain in the 1994 World Cup but could only earn a solitary cap. However, his managerial skills can't be undermined as he has led the Spanish U-19 and U-21 sides to European glory.

Adam Nawałka: Poland

The Poland manager was a sensation in his time. At the age of 19, he played 90 minutes of every game (except 1) that the Polish team played in the 1978 World Cup.

At the end of the tournament, his performances put him in the team of the 1978 FIFA World Cup. However, his time in the side was short-lived as recurrent injuries forced him out of the national team.

Akira Nishino: Japan

Although the player hasn't featured in a World Cup finals game, a special mention could be given to Akira Nishino for representing Japan in the World Cup qualifiers.

Nishoni was part of the Japan team that failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup. Nishino could only earn 12 caps for his nation, scoring a solitary goal in that time. However, he lead Japan to number one spot in the AFC Group B for World Cup qualification.

Juan Antonio Pizzi: Player - Spain / Coach - Saudi Arabia

Pizzi is a unique name on this list in a lot of ways. The Argentine born man, played for Spain and is now at the helm of Saudi Arabia in this World Cup. Pizzi represented the Spain national team for four years, appearing in the 1998 World Cup and 1996 UEFA Euro.

He embarked on a managerial career after retiring, winning the Copa America with Chile in 2016. However, he couldn't guide Chile to the World Cup as he failed in the qualification round. Pizzi was appointed head coach of Saudi Arabia as early as November 2017 and now has another shot to create some sort of upset with his team.