SportsCatch
EN

Zidane loses his first duel as France manager… on The Voice Kids

Newly appointed France manager Zinédine Zidane recorded a video to convince young contestant Azure to join rapper Soprano's team on The Voice Kids. The candidate ultimately chose Santa instead.

1 min read
Zidane loses his first duel as France manager… on The Voice Kids
Share

Zinédine Zidane has not yet managed his first match as France manager when his first defeat is already confirmed — and it came from an unexpected place: the set of The Voice Kids on TF1.

At the initiative of singer Soprano, the new France manager recorded a video to convince young contestant Azure to join the Marseille rapper’s team. “Hi my friend, it’s Zizou! Without hesitation, you can choose Soprano. He’ll take you all the way. He has a big heart, he’ll take good care of you. I wish you a great adventure, and above all enjoy what you’re going to do. I send you both my love,” said the 1998 World Cup winner.

The weighty argument was not enough. After watching the message from the former number 10, Azure chose to join Santa’s team. The 35-year-old singer made no secret of her satisfaction: “Didn’t I beat Zizou? Wouldn’t I be the new number 10?”

This anecdote comes as Zidane has just been officially confirmed as the successor to Didier Deschamps, who left the position after fourteen years in charge. Free since his departure from Real Madrid in summer 2021, the 1998 Ballon d’Or winner waited five years before taking over the France team, chosen by FFF president Philippe Diallo.

The 54-year-old manager will unveil his first squad list on September 17. His inaugural Nations League programme looks packed: the Tricolores face Turkey on September 25, Belgium on September 28 and October 5, then Italy on October 2.

Share
{# Sitewide native fullscreen interstitial — our own bet-CTA card blown up to a takeover (replaces the SDK overlay). The shared card animations + countdown load once, AFTER the interstitial markup, so the countdown script's first tick sees this card's node too (the in-read card, in
above, already exists). One include covers both surfaces. #}