Soon-to-be sacked France coach Raymond Domenech celebrated his side's calamitous Euro 2008 exit by proposing to his girlfriend.
Domenech, whose tactics and team selection have been widely criticised and blamed for France's poor showing in Austria and Switzerland, chose the moments after the 2-0 defeat to Italy on Tuesday to proposed to Estelle Denis, a journalist and TV presenter.
In a post-match interview with French television station M6 - incidentally, the channel that Denis works for - Domenech said: "I have only one plan at the moment, it is to marry Estelle, and it is only this evening that I ask for her hand in marriage. "I know that it is difficult, but it is in moments like these that one has need of everyone, and I need her."
When asked why he chose that moment and situation to pop the question, Domenech said: "It was just a thought. Everyone was so sad and I thought to myself, 'Life has its beautiful moments'."
Unsurprisingly, Domench was unable to answer questions about his own professional future. "I am not asking myself that question, as it is a political problem. "This team has a future, it has a real plan, there are young players coming through, there is something really interesting to do.
"It is a political problem and I have never dabbled in anything other than sporting matters." It is not currently known whether Mme Denis accepted his proposal.


