campaign. He would, however leave the club on 30 June 1989 to join second tier club Créteil on a caretaker basis until 1 October 1989 when Bernard Maligorne took on the management position. Move to Africa Troussier's first move away from France started with Ivory Coast top division football club ASEC Mimosas where in his debut season he won the league championship. This would soon be followed by two further league titles and an endearment towards the country, which saw him gain citizenship with Ivory Coast. With his impressive run at club level the Ivory Coast national football team hired him as their manager in hopes that he could replicate his success with the national team. He was assigned to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, however he failed to achieve this and soon left his post to move to South African football club Kaizer Chiefs. After a brief period with Kaizer Chiefs Troussier moved to Moroccan football club Fath Union Sport and led them to the 1995 Coupe du Trône. His time with Fath Union Sport also saw him experience relegation to the second tier with them, however he remained with the club for several seasons until he was offered a chance to return to international management with Nigeria to replace Shaibu Amodu as they attempted to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Entering the job halfway through qualifying he led them into four games throughout the campaign as Nigeria successfully qualified, however the Nigeria Football Federation decided to relieve Troussier of his duties and ultimately let highly experienced coach Bora Milutinović lead them into the tournament due to his experience of already managing three different nations in a World Cup at that time. Troussier quickly found a new job managing another African nation in Burkina Faso where he was assigned to coach them in the 1998 African Cup of Nations, which they were hosting. In a short period of time he made the team genuine title contenders until they were beaten by Egypt 2-0 in the semi-finals. Burkina Faso ultimately finished fourth after losing to DR Congo in the third-place match, nevertheless the result meant it was their highest ever finish at the time. His stint at Burkina Faso would impress the South African Football Association, who offered him the job of leading South Africa to the 1998 World Cup. He would replace Jomo Sono, who,