Boghossian to assist France coach Domenech

Former international midfielder Alain Boghossian is to assist France coach Raymond Domenech, a source close to the French camp told AFP on Thursday, confirming a report in French daily Le Parisien.

The French Football Federation would only officially tell AFP that the 37-year-old, who was in the 1988 World Cup-winning squad, was a “hypothetical” choice to join Domenech’s entourage as part of a revamp.

Boghossian, who played for Marseille, as well as Italian sides Parma and Napoli, will join a staff which includes Pierre Mankowski, Domenech’s right-hand man and takes up his duties on August 20, when Les Bleus face Sweden in a friendly.

According to Le Parisien, “Boghossian will try to breathe a bit of new life into a France which weas sadly lacking in Switzerland” during a desperately disappointing Euro 2008, when the team crashed out in the opening phase after losses to Holland and Italy.

Domenech was derided in some quarters for the French showing but the Federation a month ago said the 56-year-old would stay on for the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign which starts in September after the federation’s Executive Committee backed him.

France’s first World Cup qualifier is in Vienna against Euro co-hosts Austria on September 6.

Domenech took over from Jacques Santini as France manager after Euro 2004 and two years later guided the team to the World Cup final where they lost on penalties to Italy.