Zinedine Zidane said he is getting a charge out of a break from football and has not settled on a choice over his best course of action, while previous partner and current France mentor Didier Deschamps anticipated he would one day accept his position. The 45-year-old surrendered as Real Madrid head coach in the outcome of his side’s third successive Champions League triumph and was immediately touted as a potential substitution for Deschamps should Les Bleus neglect to awe at the World Cup in Russia. Speaking at a promotional event in Paris, Zidane gave no sign of where his coaching profession may take him next.
“I’ve got my feet up and am feeling good,” Zidane told reporters. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. The most important thing is the decision I’ve taken, the rest we’ll see.” Deschamps, who lined up alongside Zidane when France won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000, told the media at the national team’s training camp that he expected to see his friend take charge of Les Bleus at some stage.
“I don’t know what he decided,” said Deschamps, whose side will face Australia in their Group C opener on June 16. I think, for now, he wants to enjoy the rest, his family and loved ones and then after he will definitely be a coach of the French team someday. When? I cannot say. But it seems logical. It will happen when it happens.”