Zidane dazzles his players in first session at Clairefontaine

Zinédine Zidane officially took his position as France manager on Monday at Clairefontaine, three days after unveiling his first list of 23 players. Only twelve of them were on the pitch, the other eleven remaining in treatment.

Among those present: Jean Butez, Guillaume Restes, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Koundé, Maxence Lacroix, Andy Diouf, Eduardo Camavinga, Manu Koné, Lucas Da Cunha, Michael Olise, Maghnes Akliouche and Esteban Lepaul. The session, focused on technical work, quickly turned into a personal demonstration for the former playmaker.

As he was accustomed to doing at Real Madrid, Zidane did not hesitate to lead by example. Dayot Upamecano, Bayern Munich defender, summed up the group’s mood at the end of the session: “We did technical work, we saw he still has it. It will be difficult to reproduce what Zidane is capable of doing technically. We are very happy with the training that just finished, and we are eager to see what comes next.”

The 27-year-old defender had previously expressed his enthusiasm at the prospect of working under the man he has admired since childhood: “We were all fans of him when we were young, it’s a pleasure. I am very happy to be able to learn from him.”

Upamecano, however, was keen to pay tribute to his predecessor. “We are not going to get into debates. Didier Deschamps helped me progress in many areas. I am 27 years old, I still have much to learn, I am listening, we are very happy that Zidane is here,” he concluded, keen not to pit the two men against each other.