Clermont lose first match

It happened. Corinne Diacre made football history as she became the first woman to coach a men’s professional football team in a competitive match in France. The fact that his Clermont Foot 63 side lost 2-1 at Brest doesn’t matter. Clermont became the first side to appoint a female manager in one  of the highest two divisions of an European football league. Italian side Viterbese already hired Carolina Morace in 1999 but they was in third division and she left after just two games. Diacre was appointed in June, replacing another female manager, the Portuguese Helena Costa, who resigned claiming to be ill-treated by club management. Unworried by this setback, Claude Michy, club’s president, decided to bring on another woman. Diacre, 40-year old last Monday, amassed 121 appearances for France National side. While Costa was familiar with man football as a former Benfica's men's youth team coach, for Diacre this is her first job with a male football team. Obviously, all of the focus was on the coach. Diacre was also given a bouquet of flowers before kick-off by Brest manager, Alex Dupont. Honestly, as much is hard for a female to coach a male team, there is no guarantee that she doesn’t have a chance of succeeding. Football is still a man's world, so women have to be twice as good but this is not a hard to be accomplished by Diacre as she’s smart and a hard worker. Furthermore, she will utilize every ounce of energy to prove any criticism wrong. The fact she’s French will help her to communicate with her players. On the paper, Clermont is not a so bad side so there are not reasons Diacre’s appointment doesn’t work out. Should Diacre enjoy success, it could open the doors for other female manager to join the male football ranks. So, Diacre’s appointment could be only the first step to promote women in the game. On the other hand, USA already showed the way as San Antonio Spurs recently added Becky Hammon as an assistant coach making her the second female assistant on an NBA coaching staff but the first full-time and paid. And you can’t forget Karren Brady that, at 23, became the first woman to run a top-flight club in England when she became managing director of Birmingham City.