Zidane Says Au Revoir to France
France coach Raymond Domenech today confirmed the retirement of Zinedine Zidane from international football.
Zinedine Zidane today confirmed his retirement from international football.
The 32-year-old Real Madrid playmaker follows in the footsteps of former captain Marcel Desailly, and defenders Lilian Thuram and Bixente Lizarazu, who announced their decision to quit the international scene after France's poor showing at Euro 2004 this summer.
The former world player of the year said: "I have thought long and hard over this decision - I think that at a given moment you must say 'stop'.
"It's the end of my international career with the French team. It's the time, it's my time. It's the end of a cycle: there have been some great players who retired in 2000 and 2002, other players are doing it and now I'm doing it.
"I thought about it before Euro 2004. Independent of the result, I had anticipated quitting the French team. It is of course much easier to do that when you're losing than when you're winning."
The decision of Zidane and company to hang up their boots marks the end of a glorious era in French football which saw Les Bleus win both the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 in an unprecedented spell of success for the country. Fabien Barthez is the only player remaining from the starting XI which beat Brazil 3-0 in 1998.
New French coach Raymond Domenech paid tribute to the great man: "Zidane stops his international career here. I regret it very much because I would have liked him to continue but he had already decided about it."
The 32-year-old Real Madrid playmaker follows in the footsteps of former captain Marcel Desailly, and defenders Lilian Thuram and Bixente Lizarazu, who announced their decision to quit the international scene after France's poor showing at Euro 2004 this summer.
The former world player of the year said: "I have thought long and hard over this decision - I think that at a given moment you must say 'stop'.
"It's the end of my international career with the French team. It's the time, it's my time. It's the end of a cycle: there have been some great players who retired in 2000 and 2002, other players are doing it and now I'm doing it.
"I thought about it before Euro 2004. Independent of the result, I had anticipated quitting the French team. It is of course much easier to do that when you're losing than when you're winning."
The decision of Zidane and company to hang up their boots marks the end of a glorious era in French football which saw Les Bleus win both the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 in an unprecedented spell of success for the country. Fabien Barthez is the only player remaining from the starting XI which beat Brazil 3-0 in 1998.
New French coach Raymond Domenech paid tribute to the great man: "Zidane stops his international career here. I regret it very much because I would have liked him to continue but he had already decided about it."
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