Zidane wants to coach France

Former Real Madrid player and current director of football Zinedine Zidane has declared he wants to turn his sporting career on his head and turn his hand to coaching.

The Frenchman has started to working towards his coaching badges and has one particular job in mind: to one day be the coach of the France team.

In an interview with French sports newspaper 'L'Equipe', 'Zizou' said:

"I told myself - I want something else. I have taken my time to arrive at this decision. I stopped playing football six years ago. I've had a long period of reflection."

Zidane, who won the World Cup in France in 1998 and the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2002, revealed that he wanted to take a step back from the limelight after a career full of controversy. Now he is ready to take the next step. He has been studying a post-graduate degree in management, economics and law related to sport at the University of Limoges and is now taking a coaching diploma in Clairefontaine.

Zidane does not want to become a coach until he has got all the necessary qualifications, because he has never coached before and wants to "take things easy" and would be happy to start working with a small team.

"I've never thought about where or at what level I'll start coaching. What is good is that I've thought long and hard about whether I really want to be a coach, and the answer is yes. We'll see where it takes me."

And he did not rule out coaching the France team one day.

"There's never a good time to talk about that because there are always coaches that are currently in that position, but I will respond to the question because I have been asked it. One day I will coach France, because the team means so much to me."

The former midfielder added that what he misses most about playing is "the adrenaline rush you get when you go out onto the pitch, being in the dressing room with the rest of the team, enjoying yourself and feeling the pressure and the responsibility."

Looking ahead to France's game with Spain on Tuesday at the Vicente Calderón, Zidane said he did not want to tell anyone how to play because he was still studying how to be a coach, but, between laughs, let slip: "France have to go for the Spaniards, try to provoke them and make sure they don't score any goals."

Source: AS