Helena Costa, the newly-appointed coach of French club Clermont Foot Auvergne, holds her new jersey with Claude Michy, the club president, during a news conference, yesterday. Costa, 36, made history as she became the first woman to be appointed coach of a French professional club and also the first in any of Europe’s top two tiers. “My objective is to win for Clermont, that is my ambition,” the Portuguese said. “The impact of my appointment has been enormous but I hope that people will judge me as if I am a normal individual and judge my work as if I was a man.”

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