Zinédine Zidane had enormous weight within the France team when he was a player. Even to the point of deciding the composition of the eleven.
In 2006, the French team reached the final of the World Cup in Germany. And the theory according to which the group managed itself without worrying too much about Raymond Domenech’s instructions is not really far-fetched. Recently, proof was provided that the coach does not decide alone on the composition of his eleven. It turns out that Zinédine Zidane had something to say on the subject.
Zidane decided everything
The daily L’Equipe and its famous journalist Vincent Duluc have just given credence to the rumors circulating at the time. Rumors claimed that the French legend had campaigned for one of his friends to be kept in the eleven while the coach wanted another element instead. The friend in question was Fabien Barthez, and the victim of this scheme was Grégory Coupet.
Coming off a very high-level season with OL, Coupet left to start during the global tournament. But, at the last minute, he found himself preferring the “divine bald”. Officially, the decision came from the technical staff. This is actually not the case. ZZ would therefore have influenced his friend to start as a starter in this final phase. And it wasn’t the first time he had done this. In 1998 the selection of Christophe Dugarry in the list of 23 also resulted from his influence on the coach (Aimé Jacquet).
photo credit: Panoramic
Zinedine Zidane imposed certain choices on Domenech for the Blues’ returning eleven during the tournament in Germany.
A victim who paid dearly for this interference
Upon learning of the decision to sideline him, Coupet rebelled. He almost left the France group in the middle of a rally, during the training course in Tignes. After the intervention of several members of the management and some of his teammates, he finally resolved to take it upon himself and remain a good comrade. He ultimately did not play a single minute in the World Cup, neither during the edition in question nor in the one after that.
As a reminder, the 2006 World Cup was Zidane’s last competition with the France team. He bowed out by leaving through the smallest door. His headbutt on Marco Materazzi penalized the Blues in the final and sent them to penalties. An exercise in which Barthez proved to be powerless. History does not tell us whether Coupet would have done better.
