After Deschamps’ extension, what’s the future for Zidane?
Didier Deschamps’ extension until 2026 as coach of the French team, which was unveiled this Saturday, blocks the horizons of Zinedine Zidane’s tricolor. While opening up a field of possibilities.
This is the meaning of the story. A proof. Everything indicates that one day Zinedine Zidane will take charge of the French team. His destiny must have brought him to this position of coach, he is a former conductor and hero of the Blues, crowned king of the world on 12 July 1998, an extraordinary champion who has become a famous and feared coach with three Ligue titles won in his record time with Real Madrid . Zidane after Didier Deschamps started a new cycle at the end of the World Cup in Qatar: many expected it. “As a fan of football and the French team, I want to see something else, another football. So I want to see Zizou as the coach of the French team”, his good friend Christophe Dugarry proclaimed recently at RMC. He must have greeted the news without much surprise but with great disappointment this Saturday, as the trend of the last few days has been confirmed. Deschamps himself formalized its extension until 2026 during the federal assembly of the FFF in Paris.
The future of the Blues will continue to be written without Zidane, who has clearly acknowledged his ambition to become a coach in an interview given to Team on the occasion of his 50th birthday last June. “I want, of course,” he said. I will, I hope, someday. When? It doesn’t depend on me. But I want to join the French team. I know this French team as players. And it was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me! But really! That’s the highlight. So, as I experienced and today “today I became a coach, the French team was firmly entrenched in my head. After Deschamps “I don’t know. If it has to be done, it will be done, then or not. When I say that I want to take the French team one day, I assume that. Today, a team is ready. With goals. But if the opportunity arises then, then I will be there. Again, it’s not up to me. My deepest desire is there.” He knew it today, he still has to wait, to endure this desire. By saying yes to another project while waiting for the door to finally open in a few years? Without rushing, Zidane doesn’t lose the fiber and desire to win trophies .
After PSG, Brazil will be interested
Last summer, as reported by RMC Sport, he had exchanged news with PSG officials, to find a successor for Mauricio Pochettino. The two sides have negotiated and discussed the feasibility of such an association. But the former number 10 player has decided to wait for the Blues, with the hope that the French national team train will appear in the near future. Without any warranty from Noël Le Graët. And keep in mind that a new long-term contract for “DD” will block his tricolor horizon. This is the scenario that ends up happening. So what’s next for Zidane? Should we expect a new Parisian approach when Christophe Galtier is currently under contract until 2024? His name also appears frequently at Juve, where his style and character were admired throughout his years as a player from 1996 to 2001. “Italy is in my heart, I spent five years in Turin and Juventus is still important to me. We will see” , he confided in April 2021. Will he be contacted next summer to replace Massimiliano Allegri? Nothing is less certain. Criticized since returning to Piedmont, the Italian has gradually regained acclaim over the weeks.
His Juve took the door in the first round of this season’s Champions League but they relaunched themselves in the title race on the national stage with a chain of seven wins. Some also dream of seeing Zizou return to Madrid. Leaving behind full glory in 2018, five days after a third success in C1, he quickly bounced back when he returned nine months later, as a savior, by winning his second Spanish title, in 2019-2020. But he eventually wears out, tested by the demanding context of merengue. Can he dive back into the environment he has already left twice? And then Carlo Ancelotti’s contract will only expire in 2024 and he is not expected to leave his former post. No problem, Zidane won’t miss a request. Brazil has expressed interest, according to Team. Because he is an independent, foreign and experienced coach, he ticked off all profiles made to take over for Tite, dismissed after the Selecão’s elimination in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup. Zidane has supporters and not just within the Brazilian FA.
“Football is a democratic sport. Everyone can participate, even if the priority is always a coach from your country, who knows local football. But if today you don’t have a unified name in Brazil, why not look outside? (… ) I see Zidane as the perfect Brazilian coach”, emphasized former OL midfielder and sporting director Juninho on Friday in the “Rothen ignites” program at RMC. It will be a huge challenge for Zidane, and also a lot of pressure, as Brazil have not known a foreign coach since Argentina’s Filpo Nuñez in 1965. . This is what he hinted at in October during the presentation of his new wax figure at the Grévin museum. “Did I miss the coach shirt? No, I’m not far away, he first sneaked in front of the media. We are waiting, we are waiting a while.” And when asked out, Zizou replied with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips: “Soon, soon. But hey, we enjoyed it.”
