According to RMC, Zidane began his coaching career with Real Madrid Castilla, Real Madrid's B team, before becoming France's national team manager. He gradually demonstrated his coaching abilities during his time with the youth squad and later the first team.

In Spain's third division, Zidane was an "anomaly". The 1998 Ballon d'Or winner sat on the bench of a semi-professional team. Those who witnessed the beginning of his coaching career remember him as a rock star who attracted all eyes, with large crowds gathering at every away match. This level of attention even forced Real Madrid to assign one or two security staff to accompany the reserve team coach on every away trip.

In 2014, eight years after his retirement, Zidane took charge of Real Madrid Castilla. Dani Suárez, who played under Zidane that season, recalled: "It was his first experience as a coach; he was just starting."

Always with the "player mentality"

Dani Suárez said: "He still had that player mentality; he wanted to participate in training with us. During passing drills, he was one of us. Even though he had been retired for a long time, whenever he touched the ball, the quality of the training improved immediately!"

The center-back remembered that Zidane was a young coach at the time who clearly knew "where he wanted to go" and wanted to gain as much experience as possible. Suárez stated: "He was very organized and had strong work ethic, with very advanced ideas. Before training, he had us do injury prevention exercises; after training, he also had us do individual sessions. This is common now, but when he started coaching us, this practice wasn't very widespread."

During his time coaching Castilla, Zidane was always preparing for the future. While serving as Ancelotti's assistant, the Frenchman became increasingly influential in the months before Real Madrid won their tenth Champions League. With the reserve team, he also tried to adapt to training details in advance as much as possible. Previously, Castilla coaches hadn't held press conferences after every home match. Zidane, however, wanted to practice this aspect to prepare for his future career.

Facing the reserve team's results, Zidane was sometimes able to avoid some media criticism. It was difficult for the outside world not to give more time to this legend. Zidane quickly found his rhythm and earned recognition from the dressing room. Dani Suárez recalled: "He was very close to the players and helped us. He understood our needs, knew when he could come talk to us and when it was better not to. That feeling was really comfortable. Training was also fun."

David Bettoni, who worked with Zidane, is now his assistant coach with the French national team, just as he was at Castilla. Dani Suárez laughed and said: "Bettoni was somewhat the 'bad cop', but that's not a negative thing. In the coaching staff, you always need someone to push you and ask more of you. It's not necessarily to criticize you, but when things aren't going well, someone has to put pressure on you and push you to your limits. Zidane was more like the manager, while Bettoni was the one who pushed us hardest in training and daily work."

In the 2014/2015 season, Zidane worked hard to guide this group of young players. He invited Ronaldo Nazário to give talks to the team, took players to do yoga, and organized team-building activities.

However, his time with the reserve team was not long. Midway through his second season, he was promoted to the first team. This was followed by three consecutive Champions League titles, a perfect start to his career.

"Zidane can transform the French national team into a champion squad," Guti said.

Guti stated: "As a coach, I think he is one of the best. Everything he achieved at Real Madrid is already written in history."

Regarding Zidane's prospects of coaching the French national team, Guti said: "This role is complex because there is a lot of pressure on the French national team, and the squad has very exceptional players. But sometimes, the team fails to find cohesion and doesn't win the tournaments it should. However, I think this is a very attractive project for him because he has a group of world-class players. Zidane can transform the French national team into a champion squad."

In Madrid, an even more intriguing aspect of Zidane becoming France's coach is that he will have Real Madrid's top scorer under his command. Guti continued: "Mbappé must become the heart of this team. Zidane has many high-level players and must maximize their value."

Whether Zidane, who has already won everything with Cristiano Ronaldo, can help Kylian Mbappé reach the same heights remains to be seen.

Tradotto dall'IA.

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