Tom Saintfiet, entraîneur belge né à Mol, a construit une carrière hors normes, marquée par une multitude de postes et un attachement fort au football africain. Contraint d’arrêter très tôt sa carrière de joueur à 24 ans après une sixième rupture des ligaments croisés, il bascule rapidement sur le banc.
Son parcours le mène d’abord hors de Belgique, puis vers l’Afrique à partir de 2008 avec la Namibie, avant un épisode mouvementé au Zimbabwe, stoppé par un refus de permis de travail. Il enchaîne ensuite plusieurs sélections et s’impose comme un technicien capable de s’adapter à des contextes très différents.
La Gambie devient son grand tournant : il qualifie les Scorpions pour leur première CAN et les emmène jusqu’en quarts de finale en 2021. Cette trajectoire assoit sa réputation sur le continent, au point d’être cité parmi les meilleurs entraîneurs CAF en 2022 et 2023.
Arrivé au Mali en août 2024, il qualifie les Aigles pour la CAN 2025 en terminant premier de leur groupe, avec une défense quasi imprenable. Pendant le tournoi, il atteint les quarts en sortant la Tunisie aux tirs au but et affiche ses ambitions : viser la finale.
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00:00He has torn his cruciate ligaments 6 times, coached in all four corners of the world and now he has qualified Mali for the quarter-finals of the Cannes, but who is Tom Saint-Fiet.
00:06Born on March 29, 1973 in Molle, Belgium, he was initially a defender in local clubs.
00:11However, his career will end at 24, since for the 6th time, he will rupture his cruciate ligaments.
00:16He will then very early on move to the bench, will become one of the youngest coaches in the country and will already do some crazy things.
00:21In particular, in 2002, he went to coach B71 Saint-Dur in the Ferroe Islands.
00:25He will coach the A team, the youth teams and even the women's team.
00:29This guy is crazy and his African story will start in 2008 with Namibia.
00:33Despite playing few matches, his results will be significant.
00:36The country will definitely climb in the FIFA rankings.
00:38In 2010, in a completely crazy situation, he was appointed coach of Zimbabwe.
00:42Except that the state is going to refuse him a work permit.
00:44He will therefore leave the country after only one match and this matter, between him and the federation, will go to court.
00:50Then he continues his tour, he will go to Ethiopia, Malawi, and Togo.
00:54In the meantime, he will leave Africa, he will go to Bangladesh, Malta, Trinidad and Tobago.
00:58In any case, one of the greatest moments of his career was with Gambia in 2018.
01:02He's already going to stay there for 6 years.
01:03That's absolutely huge considering his career.
01:05He takes over a team in immense difficulty and announces his intention to qualify them for the Africa Cup of Nations.
01:10As a result, he will qualify the country for Cannes in 2021 and reach the quarter-finals.
01:14which is still a huge achievement considering the Gambian team.
01:17And he will qualify Gambia for Cannes 2023, but will unfortunately finish the year in his group.
01:21That said, it's a great distinction for him, as he will be named among the best coaches on the continent for 2 years.
01:25In August 2024, he will take over Mali, and he will immediately qualify the country for Cannes 2025.
01:30He will finish first in his group and he will end up in the qualifiers with the best defense on the continent.
01:35And while we're at Cannes 2025, he managed to qualify his country for the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.
01:40And he is embracing his ambitions, since he has said so himself, he wants the final.
01:43And finally, he's someone who doesn't mince words.
01:45Indeed, while the CAF has decided to schedule the Africa Cup of Nations every 4 years
01:49Instead of the usual two years, he did not hesitate to criticize this decision publicly.
01:52and to denounce the fact that it was done to satisfy the powerful.
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