A new era and new choices. For his very first list at the head of the France team, Zinédine Zidane has drawn the contours of his team and explained the decisions which will set the tone for this first truce between September and October. As a reminder, the Blues will travel successively to Turkey then to Belgium, on September 25 and 28, before receiving Italy at the Stade de France for Zidane’s first at home on October 2, and the Belgians three days later (October 5).
For this first gathering, Zinédine Zidane did something new by calling up 5 new players, starting with Andy Diouf (Inter Milan), scheduled to play left side with Adrien Truffert, back after 4 years of absence: “the left-back position? It’s been a while now that this is the place where some players are missing, even though we’ve had some very good players. The choice of Andy (Diouf) and Truffert is important. These are players capable of playing in this position and at this level, in the France team. On the other side, it’s the same, Jules (Koundé) is important, and there is another new player, Kalulu.explained ZZ, before discussing the Da Cunha case: “Da Cunha is interesting and has personality.”
5 new ones and several returnees
Concerning Estéban Lepaul, the big attraction of this new list, the Blues coach said he appreciated his profile which contrasts with those of his other offensive weapons: “it’s a different profile, especially in small spaces, I want to see him up close, I saw him, we analyzed, he scores goals and now I want to see him up close.» Zinedine Zidane also explained his strong choice to call on Guillaume Restes, who joins the France group to the detriment of Brice Samba. “And why not Guillaume Restes? It’s a thoughtful, assumed choice. We’re going to do with these three goalkeepers. With Fabien (Barthez), we have the same vision of what a goalkeeper is. He has the experience. He’s been there. We speak the same football”he explained.
The 1998 Ballon d’Or also revealed that he liked “a lot of profile” by Jérémy Jacquet. “I have been following him for a long time because he plays with my son in the youth teams”. Among the absences, we note that of Aurélien Tchouameni, but it is of a physical nature, the Madrid midfielder having returned to the pitch only last weekend. N’Golo Kanté has much less chance of returning to the Blues at 35, but Zidane wanted to pay tribute to him. “I didn’t call him. It’s a choice. There are players to help this team develop, it has nothing to do with its qualities. He was an exemplary player. He is 35 years old, I have four years at the head of this team. I made choices.” He then explained the absences of Akliouche and Gusto, without saying too much: “It’s a choice, I don’t want to see players in the stands. Why them? That’s how it is. I made the choice to take on new players.”. At least it’s clear.
