Zidane reunites 1998 world champions at event 25 years later

On July 12, 1998, they gave France its first star on the shield when they won the World Cup: exactly 25 years later, Zinedine Zidane gathered members of that squad of world champions, this Wednesday (12), for a small tournament in Aix-en-Provence.

For several years now, the 1998 champions have met regularly, privately or at other types of events, often of solidarity. This time, they responded to Zidane’s invitation to spend a day at his five-a-side soccer complex in this southern French town close to Marseille, where ‘Zizou’ was born.

The day started with some paddle games between former players and ended with a gala dinner and a show. The highlight was a soccer tournament open to teams from companies, mainly local ones, that had reserved tables for dinner.

The draw awarded each team a 1998 World Champion among those in attendance: Didier Deschamps, Christian Karembeu, Christophe Dugarry, Bernard Diomède, Alain Boghossian, Bixente Lizarazu, Lionel Charbonnier, Fabien Barthez and, of course, Zinedine Zidane.

On the field, the mythical number 10 again showed that he is the big star, with ingenious moves and bids of pure technique.

“You can see that he has an exceptional touch on the ball. He is the best,” lucky Anthony, who scored a goal after Zidane’s pass, told AFP.

For the former Real Madrid player and coach, the ‘host’ on this day of memories, the 1998 World Cup final, with a 3-0 victory over Brazil, “united France and days like this allow us to celebrate “.

“We know that we continue to inspire other generations and Didier (Deschamps, current coach) passed the baton with the star of 2018”, he said, referring to the other world title won by France, in the Russian Cup-2018, with Deschamps as coach. .

A few hours earlier, Zidane had summed up the weight of those 25 years in a few simple words: “We’re not always going to talk about 98. But we did it and it was good.”