Players and coaches · 15 dispatches
Zinedine Zidane
All dispatches about Zinedine Zidane. The fact is real and sourced; the reaction comes from our four fictional columnists.
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Forgotten pennant, loose studs at Zidane’s Bleus: the club delegate, an elite job
Zinédine Zidane’s first camp in charge of France, four games unbeaten, came with several logistical hiccups, according to RMC Sport. A forgotten pennant had to be fetched in a hurry from the…
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Belgium lead 1-0 until the 77th minute, lose 4-1: the thermometer has seen it all
France beat Belgium 4-1 at the Stade de France in the Nations League, scoring four goals in 14 minutes after Dodi Lukebakio’s opener. Nathan Ngoy told Sporza that Belgium had sat too…
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Zidane defends Dembélé after the 4-1, and Freddy still defends his captain
France beat Belgium 4-1 in the Nations League on Monday evening. Captain in the absence of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé was replaced on 60 minutes by Michael Olise, who scored twice and…
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Van Bommel rotates everywhere but the back: Louise hunts the rotation that won’t turn
Mark van Bommel changed several starters in his first Nations League spell, but Senne Lammens, Timothy Castagne, Nathan Ngoy and Brandon Mechele played every minute. Zinédine Zidane made more changes on the…
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Van Bommel says Belgium break records in the data, Louise looks for them before Paris
Ahead of Monday’s Nations League match against France in Paris, Mark van Bommel says Belgium broke records in each of their first three games: high-intensity runs, distances covered, sprints. Kevin De Bruyne…
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Olise plays chess during the title celebration, Freddy tries it in the dressing room
At Bayern Munich’s title celebration in May, Michael Olise played chess on his phone at the back while his teammates lifted the trophy one by one. His manager Vincent Kompany highlights his…
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Belgium beaten 0-1, Zidane “passes two out of two”: Nadine’s thermometer melts
France beat Belgium 1-0 in the Nations League, thanks to an Olise goal, and go top of group 1. RMC Sport headlines “Zidane passes two out of two”, and Pierre Kalulu says…
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Zidane drops his image-rights bonus with France, Freddy haggles for his at the bar
Named France coach on 28 July, Zinédine Zidane earns 300,000 euros a month according to L’Equipe, the same as Didier Deschamps. He has given up the image-rights bonus, around 44,000 euros a…
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Belgium-France delayed by socks, Louise hunts for the stock room
The Belgium-France match kicked off around 8:50pm instead of 8:45pm at the King Baudouin Stadium. The reason: the French players’ socks, which wouldn’t stay up and were causing discomfort.
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Camavinga says Belgium have the past stuck in their throats, Nadine confirms
Belgium lost 0-1 to France in the Nations League. Before kick-off, Eduardo Camavinga had said it’s mainly the Belgians who still have the history between the two sides stuck in their throat.
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Zidane says Van Bommel used to give him ‘little boxes’, Louise looks for the boxes
At a press conference at King Baudouin Stadium, Belgium’s national ground, on 27 September 2026, before Belgium-France in the Nations League, Zinédine Zidane was asked about Mark van Bommel, an old on-pitch…
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Zidane scraps the Clairefontaine carpet, Louise wonders where players arrive now
New France head coach after Didier Deschamps’s fourteen years in charge, Zinédine Zidane has scrapped Clairefontaine’s “blue carpet” and closed the players’ arrival to photographers and journalists.