“Get up, son of P*te!” »» These are the words that Zinedine Zidane would have addressed to Jérôme Rothen in 2004, during the semi-final of the Champions League between Monaco and Real Madrid (3-1), synonymous with elimination for “Zizou” and the Merengues. Words that deeply marked and shocked the former Monegasque, to the point of telling it in his autobiography published four years later.
This quarrel with “ZZ” had heavy consequences for him, as he explained Monday evening in his show Rothen igniteson RMC. “You know the altercation, I told it in my book, I will not come back to it. Did I have to touch the icon or not? It was part of my life so I imagine that people cannot realize ”he testifies.
Jérôme Rothen with the Blues, in 2005.
“Those who are with Zizou, there is no problem, there is no rivalry. I never wanted it to be 'Rothen against Zizou'. You would have to be completely crazy to think like that. I told anecdotes of my life and, in fact, there is one that falls on Zinedine Zidane. Thereafter, it had short -term effects on my career, not in club but in selection “adds the old left winger.
“We said that I was against the return of Zidane”
“It cost me the World Cup in 2006, it's clear and clear. Following this altercation, we were almost no longer saying hello. He returned (among the Blues) in 2005 and I was made to pass for the one who was disappointed that he came back when not at all! This is the media that insisted on this. I found myself in this storm, when I was never an important framework for the French team ”he continues.
“I was part of the France group, I was called regularly and I played regularly. When Zizou returned in 2005 against Côte d'Ivoire, I was also there in Montpellier. I took a bronca like never when I touched the ball because it was said that I was against the return of Zinedine Zidane. »» The World Cup in Germany was then approaching and Jérôme Rothen thought he had won his place in the final list.
“All year round, Raymond Domenech continued to call me, at the same time as Zinedine Zidane and all the elders who returned (Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele). Except that when it was necessary to do the 2006 World Cup, I did not do it when I think that very honestly I deserved to do it in view of my performances in club and in selection ”regrets the ex-player of Paris Saint-Germain.
And to continue: “Willy Sagnol had explained to me how this selection had happened, and I know that many put a cross on me. What is a shame is that I remain convinced that it is not a bad guy. I have always had a lot of respect for the old and the most talented than me. When you play with Zinedine Zidane, it's a dream come true so you would have to be completely stupid to turn with him. »»
