Zinidine Zidane held talks over becoming Coach of the France national team in 2012, a new book has revealed.
AS cites comments from Noel le Graet, President of the French Football Federation, that confirm he met with Zidane over the prospect of the current Real Madrid assistant coach replacing Laurent Blanc.
The information has been published in a book detailing France’s 1998 World Cup win and le Graet added that Zidane missed out on the post due to a lack of experience.
“Zidane wanted to Coach Les Bleus, it was clear,” le Graet said.
“I met with him and heard his request but it wasn’t the time. First he needed to Coach a team.”
The job eventually went to Zidane’s former France teammate Didier Deschamps, who had previously Coached Monaco, Juventus and Marseille.
Zidane was appointed as one of Carlo Ancelotti’s assistants when the Italian took the Coach’s job last summer. He has previously been Madrid’s sporting director and an advisor to President Florentino Perez.
