Ralph Jean-Louis (born 11 September 1968) is a Seychellois football manager and former player.[1] He manages the Seychelles men's national team.[2] He also used to manage St Michel United, a team in the Seychelles First Division.[3] As a player, he played eleven years for the Seychelles national team as a midfielder and striker.[3][4] At club level, he played for Bel Air FC, Anse-aux-Pins FC and St Michel United.[4] He won two bronze medals as a player at the Indian Ocean Island Games[5] as well as a gold as a manager.[6]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 11 September 1968 | ||
| Place of birth | Au Cap, Seychelles | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder, striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Seychelles (caretaker manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| ?–? | Bel Air | ? | (?) |
| ?–? | Anse-aux-Pins | ? | (?) |
| ?–2004 | St Michel United | ? | (?) |
| International career | |||
| 1990–2000 | Seychelles | 1+ | (?) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009–2011 | St Michel United | ||
| 2010–2011 | Seychelles | ||
| 2013–2015 | St Michel United | ||
| 2015–2016 | Seychelles | ||
| 2020–2021 | Seychelles | ||
| 2023– | Seychelles (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
editClub career
editJean-Louis played for three clubs in his playing career.[4] They were Bel Air FC, Anse-aux-Pins FC and St Michel United.[4] He started his career and Bel Air, in an era when Seychellois football teams were based in a particular region.[5] Bel Air FC represented the administrative district of Bel Air on the island of Mahé.[5] Jean-Louis then moved to Anse-aux-Pins FC (who represented the administrative district of Anse-aux-Pins).[5] Jean-Louis next moved to Seychelles First Division club St Michel United.[5] Why playing for St Michel United he won the 2001 Seychelles FA Cup and 2003 Seychelles First Division.[1] He stopped playing for St Michel United in 2004.[3]
International career
editJean-Louis played for the Seychelles national team for eleven years from 1990 to 2000.[5] He played in at least one full international, a 1–1 draw with Namibia on 8 April 2000 in qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[7] In that match he was substituted off at half-time with Jude Ladouce replacing him.[8] Jean-Louis has won two medals in football at the Indian Ocean Island Games.[5] He won a bronze at Madagascar 1990 and a second bronze at Réunion 1998.[5] At the 1993 Indian Ocean Island Games, which was the first Indian Ocean Island Games held in Seychelles, Jean-Louis scored a goal in the third-place playoff but Seychelles eventually lost 6–2 to Mauritius.[5]
Managerial career
editSt Michel United
editJean-Louis has coached St Michel United in two different spells.[3] His first spell ended in early 2011, soon after he was appointed national team coach. He left after a CAF Champions League match against Young Buffaloes F.C. from Swaziland.[5] He won quite a few title with the club in his first spell.[5]
After being sacked from the national team, Jean-Louis re-joined St Michel United.[3] Then in 2015 he left again, due to being re-hired by the national team.[4] He thanked St Michel United for their understanding.[6]
Seychelles
editJean-Louis was first appointed the manager of the Seychelles national team in December 2010,[2] replacing Andrew Amers-Morrison as head coach.[5] After his appointment, Jean-Louis said that his objective with the team was, "Reaching the Indian Ocean Island Games final and making local fans proud with a win."[6]
At the 2011 Indian Ocean Island Games held in Seychelles, Jean-Louis's team was drawn in group A with Mauritius, Comoros and the Maldives.[6][9] The team's first game was on 4 August 2011 against Comoros with the game ending in a 0–0 draw.[9] Seychelles' second group game was against Mauritius and goals from Nelson Laurence and Archille Henriette secured Seychelles a 2–1 win.[10] In their final group game, the Jean-Loius led Seychelles beat the Maldives 5–1.[9] This meant the team progressed to the semi-finals as group winners on seven points, three points ahead of Mauritius and five points ahead of both Comoros and the Maldives.[9] In the semi-finals Jean-Louis's team faced Réunion.[9] Seychelles won in extra time 2–1 after a 118th-minute winner from Karl Hall.[11] In the final, Seychelles would face Mauritius, a team they beat 2–1 in the group stage.[9] The game finished 1–1 after extra time so the game went to penalties.[9] Seychelles won the shootout 4–3, and in doing so won the gold medal.[9] Jean-Louis left the team soon after the Indian Ocean Island Games victory.[4]
Jean-Louis was re-appointed manager of Seychelles in September 2015,[2] replacing Ulric Mathiot.[4] In an interview with Seychelles Life after his appointment, Jean-Louis said, "I took it up this time as a challenge for me to see if I can do better than last time."[4] He was one of four applicants for the job and the only local one.[4] His first match in his second spell as manager was against Burundi on 7 October 2015 in the first round of African qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[6] The team lost 1–0 before losing the second leg 2–0 and being knocked out of qualifying for the World Cup.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b Ralph Jean-Louis at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ a b c "Seychelles – R. Jean-Louis". Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "Football: Ralph Jean-Louis". Football Database. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Betsy, Lewis (8 October 2015). "I want to do better than last time, says Jean-Louis as he returns as national coach". Seychelles Life. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l G., G. (31 December 2010). "SFF terminates Amers-Morrison's contract and appoints Jean-Louis as coach". Seychelles Weekly. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e N., S. (23 September 2015). "Football: Interview with national team coach Ralph Jean-Louis". Seychelles Nation. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Ralph Jean-Louis". FIFA. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Preliminaries". FIFA. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Jeux des Iles de l'Océan Indien (Indian Ocean Games)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Football Poule A: Le Club M retombe dans ses travers (in French)". Le Mauricien. 7 August 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Football Demi-Finales: Le pays hôte s'offre le tenant du titre (in French)". Le Mauricien. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "World Cup 2018 Qualifying". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 15 September 2016.