By Ben Sutherland BBC Sport Online

By signing to take charge of Tunisia, Roger Lemerre has become one of the most famous coaches working on the African continent.

Lemerre confirmed as Tunisia boss

His profile is substantially higher than the last time he took a job there, when he managed Tunis clubside Esperance.

That was before his appointment as coach of France and the victory in the 2000 European Championship which was a great achievement in an outstanding career.

In his playing days, Lemerre was more flexible than an Olympic gymnastics team, being a skilled striker as well as an excellent defender.

The 2000 European Championship was the pinnacle of Lemerre's career

He made his name with Sedan, spending eight years at the club, where he won his three French Player of the Year trophies - despite getting only six caps for his country.

In 1969, he moved on to Nantes and had two seasons with them, before playing for Nancy and Lens.

He quit playing in 1975, having never won a trophy - the closest being two French Cup finals in 1965 and 1970.

Management career

That would eventually change when he stepped into management - which he did almost straight away, taking charge of Red Star.

After three years with the small Paris side, he returned to Lens, but returned to the capital a year later to take charge of Paris FC.

Moderate success there led to his appointment at Strasbourg, but after two years he was changing clubs again, this time on his way to one of Africa's best sides in Esperance.

But he was successful and left in 1984 after less than a year in charge.

He went to Red Star for the second time, before taking a post in the French national set-up, as coach at the National Technical Directorate (DTN) in 1986.

Success at last

He spent 14 years as part of the France set-up handling the French military team - with whom he won the 1995 World Military Championships and the France B team.

Lemerre's mission now is to get Tunisia to score

France manager Aime Jacquet made Lemerre his assistant in 1998 and took some of the credit when Les Bleus won that year's World Cup on home soil.

When Jacquet left the job, Lemerre his natural successor, maintaining the base of the World Cup side while adding blistering pace up front in the shape of Thierry Henry and David Trezuguet.

His European Championship win in 2000 signalled his intention to keep French football at the top of the global football mountain.

Hopes were high in France that his side would go on and retain the 2002 World Cup, but the team slumped in Japan and Korea with three sad, goalless performances against Senegal, Uruguay and Denmark.

France were out of the competition and Lemerre was out of a job.

His task is to prove he can lead an expectant country to home success - Tunisia will host the 2004 African Nations Cup.