Zidane dreams of coaching France, says FFF president

Jul 3, 2012 1:50:00 PM

The French official believes that the Real Madrid sporting director wants to take charge of Les Bleus in the future, but is not a candidate to replace Laurent Blanc

France Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet has claimed that retired midfielder Zinedine Zidane "dreams" of coaching the country's national team.

Zidane registered for a two-year university diploma at the Centre of Law and Sports Finances in Limoges in October and recently admitted he would like to move into coaching after a successful playing career.

Le Graet is currently trying to find a replacement for Laurent Blanc, who left Les Bleus after Euro 2012, but the FFF official stated that Zidane is not an option in the near future.

"I find it very charming that he has expressed a desire to be close to France's team," he told reporters at a press conference.

"He dreams of coaching France within a decade. It is very gratifying."

La Graet confirmed that he is interested in former Olympique Marseille coach Didier Deschamps, and also ruled out the possibility of appointing a foreigner as Blanc's successor.

Whoever is appointed would be charged with guiding the team to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and possibly the Euro 2016 campaign, held in France.

"Our coach will be French, this is not up for debate," he explained.

"The contract? The duration could be two years with an option for two more.

"Qualifying for the World Cup with Spain in the same group will not be easy and after that there will be Euro 2016."

France crashed out of this summer's tournament following a 2-0 defeat to eventual champions Spain in the quarter-finals, but the team's campaign was overshadowed by disciplinary problems.

Samir Nasri, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jeremy Menez and Yann M'Vila are all facing disciplinary action following their behaviour in Poland and Ukraine.

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