French football great Vincent dies

Former France winger Jean Vincent, who also enjoyed a highly successful career as a coach, has died at the age of 82. A left winger, Vincent was a leading name in the French game in the 1950s and early 1960s, winning the title in 1954 and two French Cups with Lille and then starring for the great Reims side of the era. In Champagne, Vincent won three more league crowns and also played in two European Cup finals, with Reims losing to Real Madrid in 1956 and 1959. Capped 46 times by Les Bleus, Vincent scored 22 goals for his country in a side that also featured the likes of Just Fontaine and Raymond Kopa. They finished third at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. He later coached Nantes for six years between 1976 and 1982, with his spell in charge of Les Canaris yielding two league titles and a French Cup. He also took Nantes to the semi-finals of the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, before coaching Cameroon at the 1982 World Cup and then Tunisia at the 1986 tournament. On learning of his death, Nantes described their former coach as a "true legend of Nantes and French football." Source: AFP