Zinedine Zidane detailed the circumstances of his return to the France team in 2005, notably tackling Raymond Domenech, then coach, whose communication he did not appreciate during the 2006 World Cup, where the group had taken control.
The France team has a special place in Zinedine Zidane’s career and heart. World champion 1998 and Europe 2000, the former leader of the Blues lived a sort of second life in the Blues when he decided to come out of his international retirement in 2005, a year after having decided to stop the selection (at following the elimination of France in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004). In an interview at The Team this Thursday, he confides that he has started his reflection on a return very quickly by discussing with Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele. He minimizes the part of Raymond Domenech, then coach, in this great comeback.
“He came to see me, he simply admits. OK. But it was my desire to come back that made me come back! Period.” “There were other more irrational elements, specifies Zizou. But to stick to the rational, it’s me. Our discussions with Lilian and Claude. This lack of the Blues. It’s gone again. It’s beautiful.”
Table of Contents
“Stories told about my return that were not reality”
A year after his return, Zidane took part in his third World Cup in 2006, finishing in the final after a very laborious group stage. Sixteen years later, the former Real star remembers not having digested being replaced by David Trezeguet in stoppage time in the second match against my South Korea (1-1). “He (Raymond Domenech) takes me out to bring in David Trezeguet, remembers Zidane. But who is going to score him, David? It was not clear. I have the glands and I let him know. There are plenty things that had happened before too. Stories being told about my return that weren’t the reality. I decided to chart my thing at that time. We even decided to chart our thing together. And that was okay. do it. It was on.”
A sort of self-management which launched the Blues into a magnificent epic with a victory against Spain (3-1) in the round of 16. “We had taken the keys, launches Zidane. 100%. We were between us, every day before a match. We had found a place for us. It was exceptional. It seems that they were the best! Magnificent moments, for four hours at the table. There was real cohesion. It was in a small inn lost, a few kilometers from our hotel. A fabulous atmosphere.”
There was also this magical quarter-final against Brazil (1-0) which Zidane describes as one of his best matches in the national team. He had even celebrated the victory by dancing on a table. “Me, getting on a table and dancing, it really has to be exceptional, smiles Zizou. As soon as there are two people, I can no longer do it… So in front of forty, it really has to be euphoria When we see the images that came out, we see the atmosphere between us. It’s magic. (Franck) Ribéry with Jacques Chirac, it’s huge! Franck apostrophized the president as if he were a neighborhood friend . We laughed. I couldn’t believe it! The story ended painfully with a defeat in the final against Italy and his expulsion after having headbutted Marco Materazzi.
#France #team #keys #Zidane #tackles #Domenech #World #Cup
