Just In: Zinedine Zidane appointed coach of France

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Zidane

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Zinedine Zidane was appointed France coach on Tuesday, as widely expected, following the departure of Didier Deschamps, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced.

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Zidane, 54, had long been viewed as the leading candidate for the role and had been waiting for an opportunity to take charge of the national team for several years.

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He will replace Deschamps, whose tenure began in 2012 and ended earlier this month after France finished fourth at the World Cup.

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Deschamps guided France to 2018 World Cup glory and the final four years later.

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The former Real Madrid star, Deschamps’ teammate in the 1998 World Cup triumph, has been readying himself for the role since leaving Real Madrid in 2021.

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“The France job was the only one I wanted,” Zidane said after his unveiling at the FFF headquarters in Paris.

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“I’ve had offers over these four or five years to take charge of a club and I turned them all down for the French national team.”

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Zidane will follow in the footsteps of former international team-mates Laurent Blanc, who coached the national side from 2010 to 2012, and Deschamps.

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The former France playmaker, who won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship as a player, has coached only one club, Real Madrid.

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During his time with the Spanish giants, he led them to three consecutive Champions League titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018, an unprecedented achievement in the competition’s modern era.

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AFP

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