Zinedine Zidane has announced his departure from Real Madrid, Thursday 31st May, 2018. He leaves the Spanish club after winning a third consecutive Champions League.
An “unexpected” thunderbolt even for its president: Zinedine Zidane announced Thursday, May 31st to the surprise that he was leaving his coaching position at Real Madrid , five days after his third consecutive victory in the Champions League , which has definitely entered the history of football.
“I made the decision not to continue next year , “ said Zidane, 45, who had headed the team since early 2016. A decision called “totally unexpected” by the president of the club, Florentino Perez, at his side in a press conference at the club’s headquarters.
“This team must continue to win and needs a change”
“I think this is the moment for everyone, for me, for the team, for the club,” said the 1998 world champion in front of the press, visibly moved.” This team has to keep winning and needs a change. After three years, it needs another speech, another working methodology “, added Zinedine Zidane “whose contract at the head of the Real Madrid team ran until 2020.
«J’ai pris une décision point final, je ne vais pas changer d’avis»
💬 Zinédine Zidane sur son départ du Real Madrid#lequipeFOOT pic.twitter.com/O7MclFxYx0
— la chaine L’ÉQUIPE (@lachainelequipe) May 31, 2018
Twelve years after missing the end of his playing career, on a fatal blow in the final of the World Cup 2006, Zidane held this time to close the first chapter of his “second career” at the peak of his art.
Less than three years after his nomination as head of the first team in January 2016, under the scrutiny or even the sarcasm of some observers, the Frenchman has won all possible titles except for the King’s Cup.
“I’m not looking for another team”
Better, besides the Liga won in 2017 after 38 days, he won all the finals he has played: Champions League 2016, European Supercup 2016, World Club 2017, Champions League 2017, Supercup Spain 2017, European Super Cup 2017, World Club 2018, and UEFA Champions League 2018. Outstanding achievements.
“As a player and coach, you decided to say goodbye to the top. Thank you for these incredible two and a half years. Your legacy will never be erased, this is one of the most successful chapters in the history of our beloved Real Madrid, “paid tribute to his captain Sergio Ramos on his Twitter account.
As a player and coach you decided to say goodbye at the top. Thank you for two and a half incredible years. Your legacy will never be erased, one of the most successful chapters in the history of our beloved @realmadrid pic.twitter.com/dO6bw74aA3
— Sergio Ramos (@SergioRamos) May 31, 2018
To see the joy on his face on the lawn of Kiev, he usually so zen and all in self-control – except when his players succeed in crazy gestures like the acrobatic returnees of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale – who could have believed that Zidane would announce his departure five days after the brilliant victory against Liverpool (3-1)?
Is it to resume another training, to prove that he can succeed elsewhere than Real? “I’m not looking for another team”, responded to the press “Zizou”, one of the few technicians to have decided to leave on its own the prestigious merengue club, known for granting a very limited life to his coaches.
Next step the France team?
“Now, after Real Madrid, what club can he do? It’s a little complicated, it’s probably one of the biggest clubs in the world, and it has already won everything, almost all titles! It only lacks the King’s Cup, my faith, “said AFP Guy Lacombe, the man who made him hatch at AS Cannes before becoming his coach trainer for nearly 30 years later.
“I think that one day he would like to take the France team. It’s obvious, he never hid from it. It must be done in good conditions, at the right time, and that, since it is patient, there will be no problem. We will see in time but it has an international destiny.”
If the contract of coach of his former teammate Didier Deschamps has been extended until 2020, the idea of one day Zizou take control of the team of France does not displease the President of the French Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët. “It’s a logical follow-up, it’s likely that one day he’s going for it,” he said in June 2017.
After the departure of Laurent Blanc in July 2012, Zidane had already demonstrated to the boss of the FFF his desire to coach the Blues. “I remember telling him here (at the headquarters of the FFF):” You better take Bordeaux to make your debut “…. Three European cups, it’s still phenomenal. The players love it. He plays well. He is a huge coach, “told AFP on Wednesday the boss of the FFF.
See you after the Euro-2020? Unless Deschamps fails in his mission in Russia …
