Didier Deschamps — mutumin da ya kai France nasara a gasar cin kofin duniya a 2018 kuma ya kai ta zuwa wasan karshe shekaru hudu bayan haka — bai kasance a yankin fasaha ba a lokacin wasan karshe na matakin rukuni na Les Bleus a FIFA World Cup 2026, bayan ya koma gida don halarta jana'izar mahaifiyarsa.

"A wannan lokaci na azar mai zafi sosai, muna bai wa babban koci karfi kuma muna tabbatar masa da goyon bayan kowa," in ji Hukumar Ƙwallon Ƙafa ta Faransa (FFF) a wata sanarwa da ta fitar ranar Talata.

A maimakon sa, Guy Stephan ne ya tsaya — mataimakin kocin da Deschamps ya dogara da shi tsawon lokaci, kuma aboki mafi kusanci a gefen filin wasa — wanda ya karbi ragamar Les Bleus na wani dan lokaci.

Alamar girmamawa kafin fara wasan

Kafin wasan yanke hukunci na Rukuni I a Gillette Stadium a Boston, babban kocin Norway Stale Solbakken ya ba Stephan furanni a madadin ma'aikatan Norway — a matsayin girmamawa ga mutum da ke fuskanta lokaci mai wuya da nutsuwa da mutunci.

Wane ne Guy Stephan?

Stephan yana da shekara 69, wanda ya fi Deschamps shekara 12. Ya taka leda a matsayin dan gaba a kulob din ciki har da Guingamp, Rennes, Le Havre, da Orleans tsakanin 1976 da 1985, kafin wata hadarin mota ta yanke aikinsa a farko — kuma Caen shi ne kulob dinsa na karshe a 1987.

Daga nan ya koma koyarwa, inda ya kasance mataimaki ga Roger Lemerre lokacin da France ta lashe gasar kofin Turai a Rotterdam a shekara ta 2000. Daga baya ya karbi mukamin babban kocin a Annecy, Lyon, da Bordeaux, kafin a nada shi babban kocin Senegal bayan nasarar da 'yan Asad suka samu a kan France a Gasar Cin Kofin Duniya ta 2002.

Haɗin gwiwarsa da Deschamps ya fara a 2009, lokacin da tsohon kyaftin na Faransa ya dawo koyarwa ya karbi ragamar Marseille bayan Eric Gerets ya tafi Saudi Arabia. Stephan ya shiga a matsayin mataimakinsa, kuma tun daga lokacin ba a iya raba su — ta hanyar wasan karshe na Kofin Duniya guda biyu, taken guda daya, da kuma wasan karshe na gasar Turai a 2016.

Gaba daya, nau'in biyu sun yi aiki tare shekara 17, wata alaƙa da aka gina a cikin nasara ta bai daya da kuma nufin sake gina bayan kamfen da France ta yi a FIFA World Cup 2010 a Afirka ta Kudu.

"Muna fahimtar juna. Ba ma buƙatar magana koda yaushe. Duba ɗaya ya isa lokacin da muke filin wasa ko a horo; idan wani abu yana buƙatar canzawa ko gyarawa, muna duba juna kacokam — boom — kamar dai mun yi magana a zahiri."

Stephan ya raba wadannan kalmomin tare da The Athletic a wannan mako, yana bayyana haɗin gwiwa da aka gina a kan hankali kamar yadda aka gina shi a kan kwarewa.

Dembele ya kunna wuta a Boston

Da Stephan a gefe, France sun kasance masu girma a rabi na farko a kan Norway. Ousmane Dembele ya haskaka Gillette Stadium da hat-trick mai ban mamaki, yana kai Les Bleus gaba da maki 3-1 kafin hutu.

Dan Stephan, Julien, ya kuma yi sunansa a duniyar kwallon kafa — a halin yanzu yana aiki a matsayin babban kocin Queens Park Rangers a Championship, wani mukami da ya rike fiye da shekara daya kadan, bayan ayyukan farko a Rennes da Strasbourg.