Zinedine Zidane can thank Laurent Blanc. Because without the Cévenol, author of the goal of qualification against Paraguay, in the round of 16 of the 1998 World Cup, the career of what can claim the best player in the history of French football would undoubtedly have been quite different. The tricolor playmaker would indeed have
undoubtedly been designated as the first manager of an elimination. The fault of his expulsion against Saudi Arabia after a new mood gesture, the Turin having wiped the crampons on the top of the thigh of a Saudi defender.
Deschamps condemns him in the public square
Turin's ears whistled from the final whistle of the match against the Saudis. “You have to know how to master your impulses. When you make a regrettable gesture, you have to expect to pay it dear ”thus regretted Aimé Jacquet, who had mentioned the subject the same morning of the match. Didier Deschamps was even more scathing.
“Zinedine is unforgivable, he launched at the microphone of TF1. We know that he is an impulsive player but hey, he will condemn us on two or three games, I think he will take them. Knowing the importance that Zidane in our game, it is an important asset that we lose. ” And the tricolor captain to put a layer by speaking of a “Stupid reaction”.
In the end, the tricolor number 10 received two suspension matches. But even more than this sanction, it is the criticisms issued by his teammates who marked the former Bordeaux to the red iron. “It's more than disappointment”he said in return, ensuring that it is only “Involuntarily falling back on the Saudi”. It will also be necessary to wait for many years to recognize his wrongs.
In transes on the sidelines
Disappointed, Zinedine Zidane has long walked his mask in Clairefontaine, especially the days preceding the shock against Paraguay. “We saw him arrive as locked in his pain. In the locker room before training, he no longer smiled, not once “had entrusted Philippe Bergeroo about him. And this back -to -school anger turned into a rage on the fateful day.
Authorized by FIFA to follow the meeting of the sidelines, Zinedine Zidane is unrecognizable. In a trance, the tricolor midfielder lives the meeting like never before, exteriorizing his feelings like never before. He plagues at each failed action, ignites at the slightest opportunity and leaps on the ground after Laurent Blanc's golden goal to tear whole lawn from lawn. What leave loved Jacquet pantois:
“He must have said to himself:” Now it's me to play. “”
