A theatre lover and a fortune teller, Raymond Domenech is definitely the most atypical coach France have ever had.

The 53-year-old intellectual of French football took the reins of Les Bleus on July 12, 2004 - the day of his daughter Victoire's birth and the sixth anniversary of France's victory at the 1998 World Cup.

Whether this was a sign or not, only the future will tell. But Domenech is determined to write his name in the national team's history books.

He already has, in a way, through his methods and his mindset.

"At every match I experience what you feel before every theatre play," explained Domenech, who was an actor both in French and English with a small company called Trimaran.

"You've got nerves and at the same time you think 'I can't wait until it starts'.

"I have also transposed theatre techniques into coaching. I write down the big lines of my training and then I improvise.

"I cut off the match into different scenes and then I put the actors-players in situation."

Domenech never won a trophy as head of France Under-21s between 1993 and 2004 and his appointment as a replacement for Jacques Santini surprised many.

"When he took the reins of the national team I was very astonished," said Eugene Saccomano, a well-known French radio journalist.

"He goes to the cinema, reads books and does theatre; he is an intellectual at the head of the national team."

Domenech never denied his passion for astrology and tarot and often admitted reading the cards to get indications on the players' personalities.

He also tried to get his young players interested in culture. Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes recently told the story of Domenech taking the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram, Christophe Dugarry and Claude Makelele, who were all playing with the under-21 side at the time, to watch Samuel Beckett's Endgame play, on the eve of an important match.

His arrival in the Les Bleus hotseat was backed by former coach Aime Jacquet, the man who led France to 1998 World Cup glory despite suffering months of personal and professional media criticism.

"He was the ideal man at the right time," said Jacquet.

"At such a position you need to have a certain spirit and action independence. And Raymond clearly have those qualities."

League president Frederic Thiriez agreed, saying: "He is an outstanding person.

"He is both intellectual and laid back. He is intelligent, intuitive and charismatic."

His personality did not spare Domenech from critics however, especially after a tough debut when, without the retired Zidane, Thuram, Makelele, Bixente Lizarazu and Marcel Desailly, they drew 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"I found it incomprehensible that after my first match against Bosnia critics started to pour down on me," Domenech admitted.

"People wanted a change. We wanted to create a new spirit but we got violently busted."

They then endured a difficult World Cup qualifying campaign as, although favourites to win their group ahead of Switzerland, Republic of Ireland, Faroe Islands, Cyprus and Israel, France were only mid-table after six matches,

But Domenech persuaded Zidane, Thuram and Makelele to come out of international retirement and the move paid off as France secured qualification in their final match with a 4-0 victory over Cyprus.

Determination and focus have always been Domenech's favourite mindset. It was already the case when he was a player.

Nicknamed the 'terror of the pitch' because of his looks, Domenech started an 18-year-long career as a defender in 1969 in Lyon, from where he moved to Strasbourg, Paris St Germain, Bordeaux and Mulhouse, earning eight caps with the national team.

As a coach Domenech took charge of Mulhouse in 1985 before having four years at Lyon and then 11 years as under-21 coach.

Domenech is the son of a Catalan expatriate who took refuge in France during the Spanish Civil War, growing up in a small Lyon apartment.

Even back then football was his passion. "Our life was revolving around football," he said.

"We were playing on the grass and two trees were used as posts. I also used to sleep with shorts and shirt on because I was worried I would be late for the Sunday match."

Having defied the critics by guiding his ageing squad to the final with Italy against the odds, Domenech had better make sure he is not late for this Sunday's match.