have to talk about it." If former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann was interested in him, Ismaël wanted to check his ancestry. Gernot Rohr, an expert of French football, explained the permanent non-consideration of Ismaël: "Although Valérien was a U-21 international, he was never an option for the senior team. Of course Valérien is one of the better centre-backs, but he was never so striking that he could compete with the first-team regulars." Ismaël saw it differently: "There used to be big names, okay. But today, I am no worse than those who are there." After Ismaël offered his services in October 2005 again to the German national team, he received again a rejection. Later in March 2006, the German Football Association announced that Ismaël was not eligible to play for Germany because he had played a U-21 European Championship qualifier for France in August 1996. According to FIFA rules, he would have needed German citizenship already back in 1996 to switch now. It was reported that Togo also wanted to call up Ismaël to their squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, given his former wife is partially Togolese descent, but he denied the approach and interest in the offer. Managerial career Hannover 96 On 10 October 2009, Ismaël became the assistant general manager of Hannover 96. From 24 June 2010, he was also board member of the club. On 28 November 2011, he took over the job of manager of the second team, Hannover 96 II. In the 2011–12 season, Hannover II finished in sixth place with a record of 14 wins, eight draws, and 12 losses. During the 2012–13 season, Hannover II finished in fourth place with a record of 16 wins, six draws, and eight losses. Ismaël left on 30 June 2013. VfL Wolfsburg II Ismaël was manager of VfL Wolfsburg II between 1 July 2013 and 5 June 2014. Wolfsburg II won the Regionalliga Nord in the 2013–14 season and lost to Sonnenhof Großaspach in the promotion play-off. 1. FC Nürnberg Ismaël became the new head coach of 1. FC Nürnberg on 5 June 2014 and won his first match in charge against Erzgebirge Aue 1–0 on 3 August 2014. He went on to lose eight of his next 13 matches and was sacked on 10 November 2014; three days after a 2–1 loss to SV Sandhausen. He finished with a record of four wins, two