For Tuesday’s front page, L’Équipe simply went with “Il revient” – “He’s back” – echoing the newspaper’s 2005 headline when Zinedine Zidane came out of international retirement. At the time, the midfielder’s upcoming return was seen as a major boost to Les Bleus’ ailing World Cup qualifying campaign. There was a similar sense of anticipation now as the roads around the French Football Federation headquarters in Paris were closed off for Zidane’s unveiling as head coach. A crowd of France fans had gathered outside by the overground Métro tracks with flags, flares and drums, as more than a hundred journalists and TV cameras were ushered into the building.
The fact that Zidane would be next in line to lead France after Didier Deschamps had been an open secret for several years and by the end of the World Cup his arrival was all but confirmed. The new head coach entered the press conference room on Tuesday morning only minutes after his appointment was confirmed by the FFF’s executive committee, but the feeling in France was that the occasion was a couple of decades in the making.
