Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira lands top international manager’s job

Patrick Vieira has been appointed as Senegal's new head coach, taking over the national side following his departure from Genoa last November. The Senegal-born former Arsenal captain had been out of work since being sacked by the Serie A club. The 50-year-old succeeds Pape Thiaw, who was dismissed after Senegal suffered defeat against Belgium in the round of 32 at the recent World Cup. During his playing career, Vieira won three Premier League titles with Arsenal and claimed both the World Cup and European Championship with France, in 1998 and 2000 respectively. A statement published on the Senegal national team’s X account read: "Mr Patrick Vieira is the new coach of the Senegalese national A team. Vieira replaces Pape Thiaw (Getty) "The date of the official presentation and the next steps in its installation will be communicated at a later date. Welcome to Senegal, coach." Vieira, who was capped 107 times by France, previously had managerial spells at Nice and New York City before spending two years in charge of Crystal Palace. He left Palace in March 2023 to join Strasbourg as head coach the same year, before undertaking a 12-month stint with Genoa. Vieira takes over from Thiaw following a chaotic period for the Senegalese national team. Senegal were crowned Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) champions in January following a dramatic 1-0 victory over hosts Morocco after extra time. However, the game was marred by controversy after Senegal staged a walk-off protest in added time after Morocco were awarded a penalty when the score was level at 0-0. After a break of approximately 20 minutes, the Senegal players returned to the pitch and Brahim Diaz had his penalty saved, as the game went into extra time. Senegal went on to win the match 1-0, but the result was overturned by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) appeals board following Senegal’s protest, as Morocco were handed a 3-0 forfeit victory and the title. The case is now set to head to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with a hearing set for 8 October. Following the Afcon drama, Senegal endured a disappointing World Cup, losing three of their four matches against France, Norway and Belgium.