Zinedine Zidane at the head of the France team is one of the sea serpents of French football. The name of the legendary No. 10 has long circulated among the candidates for the position of coach of the Blues. But for Noël Le Graët, this was never a real possibility.
“The question never arose because Didier Deschamps obtained exceptional results”explains the former president of the FFF in the columns of Ouest-France. In January 2023, shortly after the World Cup in Qatar, Le Graët made very crude comments about “ZZ”, one late Sunday afternoon on RMC.
“If Zidane tried to contact me? Certainly not, I wouldn’t even have taken him on the phone, he notably blurted out. I don’t care, he can go wherever he wants! He can go wherever he wants, in a club… selection, I hardly believe it as far as he is concerned. » This outing caused a real outcry, which triggered the start of an investigation into him, and ultimately his departure from the FFF. The former boss of the Federation, however, accepts his position at the time.
“My role was to protect my coach. At that point, Didier wanted to continue and there was no reason to change. »
This time, Le Graët would take Zidane
A little more than three years later, “NLG” nevertheless assures that it has nothing but esteem for Zinedine Zidane.
“Who can seriously question his skills? He won three consecutive Champions Leagues with Real Madrid (2016, 2017, 2018). This is no coincidence. He knows football perfectly, he understands the great players and the big events. »
Noël Le Graët goes even further by ensuring that, if he were still in office, this time he would consider Zidane to succeed Deschamps. “Obviously. When a French coach has had these results and he benefits from such an aura in world football, his name naturally comes to mind. Afterwards, once again, I don’t know what was decided or not. But no one can deny that he has the profile to lead the France team. »
