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Zinedine Zidane plays 5-a-side match in France after leaving Real Madrid

mirror.co.uk, 30 June 2021, 14:43
The former Los Blancos boss was strutting his stuff at one of his football complexes in the south of France and a video shows us that he has still got it despite retiring 15 years ago

Zinedine Zidane has been spotted playing a 5-a-side match in France after leaving Real Madrid in May.

The Frenchman left his role as Los Blancos gaffer following a less successful second stint as boss, although it did contain a La Liga title triumph.

'Zizou' was joined by sons Luca, Theo and Elyaz, along with nephew Driss at his Z5 Sporting Complex, located in Les Milles, part of the Aix-en-Provence commune, near Marseille, where he was born.

In the compilation video posted by @Z5aix on Twitter, Zidane senior can be seen pulling the strings on the pitch, showing that class truly is permanent.

The former Madrid and Juventus man won far more personal accolades than team ones during his playing career but did win three league titles and one Champions League.

The 1998 Ballon d'Or winner also claimed one World Cup and one European Championship with France, becoming a generational icon for the likes of Paul Pogba in the process.

Set to be waiting a while for a top job, the 49-year-old made no bones about his reasoning for leaving the Santiago Bernabeu, allowing Carlo Ancelotti to take the reigns for his own second spell in charge.

In an open letter published in Spanish newspaper AS, Zidane explained: "In May 2018 I left because after two and a half years, with so many victories and so many trophies, I felt the team needed a new approach to stay at the very highest level

"Right now, things are different.

"I'm leaving because I feel the club no longer has the faith in me I need, nor the support to build something in the medium or long term."

Real missed out on successive Spanish titles last season, with cross-city rivals Atletico Madrid claiming the trophy after a stellar campaign and Zizou noted the pressure to win as part of his reasoning.

"I understand football and I know the demands of a club like Real Madrid," the three-time Champions League-winning manager said.

"I know when you don't win, you have to leave.

"But with this a very important thing has been forgotten, everything I built day-to-day has been forgotten, what I brought to my relationships with the players, with the 150 people who work with and around the team."

Where should Zidane go to manage next? Comment below.

"I'm a natural-born winner and I was here [in Madrid] to win trophies," he stated.

"But even more important than this are the people, their feelings, life itself and I have the sensation these things have not been taken into account, that there has been a failure to understand that these things also keep the dynamics of a great club going.

"To some extent, I have even been rebuked for it."

Zidane also yearned for more understanding from the Bernabeu hierarchy led by Florentino Perez, saying: "I want what we've done together to be respected.

"I would have liked my relationship with the club and the president in recent months to have been a little different from that of other coaches.

"I wasn't asking for privileges, of course not, but rather a bit more memory."

Zizou went on to admit: "That's why it hurt me a lot when I read in the press, after a defeat, that they were going to sack me if I didn't win the next game.

"It hurt me and the whole team because these messages, intentionally leaked to the media, created negative interference with the staff, they created doubts and misunderstandings."

With his managerial CV, Zidane will not be short of offers, whether that be for a job or a five-a-side team.

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