Mr Spectacular

🚨 Luka Modric on Zinedine Zidane: “Everybody is sharing that touch from Zizou vs Belgium. I watched it and laughed because people are discovering something Real Madrid players spent years trying to understand. How does this man still have that touch? We had a little game in training. If Zizou was near the pitch and the ball went out, somebody would deliberately hit it towards him harder than necessary. We just wanted to catch him. One day Marcelo absolutely fired one at him. Zizou controlled it like somebody had gently passed him the television remote. Marcelo looked at me. I looked at Toni. Nobody said anything. Zizou passed it back and asked, ‘What?’ Marcelo said, ‘Nothing, Mister.’ Zizou smiled. He knew exactly what we were doing. After that it became worse. Higher ball. He controls it. Awkward bounce. He controls it. One day I told him, ‘Mister, eventually one of us is going to give you a bad enough pass.’ He said, ‘Luka, there are bad passes. There doesn’t have to be a bad first touch.’ Sometimes he would join a rondo and suddenly training became personal. Casemiro once said, ‘Coach, you know you retired, yes?’ Zizou said, ‘Yes.’ Casemiro pointed at the ball. ‘Does the ball know?’ We all laughed. People ask why that Real Madrid dressing room respected him so much. Cristiano. Sergio. Karim. Marcelo. Toni. Casemiro. Gareth. Myself. Big personalities who had already won everything. But occasionally the manager would walk onto the training pitch and remind you that before he became the man explaining football to you, he was Zinedine Zidane. If Zizou stopped training and told me, ‘Luka, your body needs to be positioned differently when this ball arrives,’ what was I supposed to say? ‘Are you sure?’ The man could probably demonstrate it wearing his suit. Apparently tonight he decided to prove that too. But everybody will talk about the touch and miss the better part of his performance. France were losing 1–0. That is where you really saw Zizou. He didn’t panic because the match wasn’t following his plan. He waited. Around the hour he sent Michael Olise and Rayan Cherki on together. I can imagine Michael asking, ‘What do you want me to do?’ And Zizou saying something very complicated: ‘Play football.’ Then Da Cunha comes. Later Doue. Suddenly Belgium have a completely different France in front of them. Doue scores. Olise creates Cherki’s goal. Olise scores. Then Olise scores again. 4–1. That isn’t magic. That is management. I remember after we won one of our Champions Leagues, somebody mentioned how calm Zizou seemed when matches became difficult. I told them, ‘You think he is calm because you are watching him. Try being the player.’ Sometimes we would be struggling and he would walk into the dressing room like we were 3–0 ahead. He’d move one thing. Tell one player, ‘Stay here.’ Tell another, ‘When he receives it, go.’ Then: ‘Okay. Play.’ You’d walk back outside thinking, ‘Surely there should be more?’ Then somehow the game made sense again. That is why I was never surprised by what he achieved at Madrid. People can talk about the squad he had. Of course we had incredible players. But incredible players still need somebody they believe. Imagine receiving instructions from Zinedine Zidane every morning, then watching him join training and remind you that his first touch might still be better than yours. He won three Champions Leagues in a row with us. That doesn’t happen because somebody has aura. Tonight was a small example of why. France gave him a difficult match. He controlled that too. Then, with practically the final touch of the evening, the ball came towards him on the touchline. Perfect control. I laughed again. All these years later, we’re apparently still trying to give Zizou a bad ball. And we’re still waiting.”

🚨 Zinedine Zidane on Michael Olise’s performance against Belgium: “Michael was sitting on the bench wrapped in a blanket while we were losing 1–0. I looked at him a few times. Nothing. No frustration. No walking up and down. No looking at me every thirty seconds hoping I would notice him. Just sitting there like somebody waiting for a bus. At half-time, I walked past him and said, ‘Michael, are you comfortable?’ He said, ‘Yes, coach.’ I said, ‘That’s actually beginning to annoy me.’ He laughed. I told him, ‘We are losing.’ He said, ‘I know.’ ‘And you’re sitting here looking like you’re watching television.’ He looked at me and said, ‘You haven’t asked me to do anything yet.’ That answer stayed in my head. Because some players spend the whole game trying to convince the manager that they are ready. Michael behaves like the manager already knows. Around the 55th minute I told him and Rayan Cherki to get ready. Michael finally removed the blanket. I said, ‘Ah, so you do remember you’re a footballer.’ He smiled. Before he went on, I stopped him. I said, ‘Michael, we don’t need you to rescue France. Just change the game.’ He looked at the scoreboard, looked back at me and said, ‘What’s the difference?’ I should have known then. He comes on in the 60th minute. Seventeen minutes later, Désiré equalises. Then Michael creates Rayan’s goal. 2–1. I’m celebrating and Michael is already walking back towards the halfway line. That is something about him that makes me laugh. Sometimes he produces something ridiculous and celebrates like somebody has just completed paperwork. Then the 88th minute comes. Michael scores. 3–1. Now I’m thinking, ‘Good. Finished.’ Apparently Michael wasn’t. Three minutes later he scores again. 4–1. I looked towards the bench and one of my assistants said, ‘You could have brought him on earlier.’ I said, ‘That is exactly why I didn’t.’ He looked confused. I told him, ‘If I bring him on at half-time, perhaps Belgium have enough time to understand what is happening.’ After the match Michael walked past me. I said, ‘Two goals, one assist in thirty minutes.’ He nodded. That was it. So I asked him, ‘Do you have anything to say?’ He said, ‘You told me to change the game.’ I said, ‘Yes, Michael. I didn’t tell you to destroy their evening.’ He smiled and started walking away. Then I remembered our conversation from half-time. I shouted, ‘Michael.’ He turned around. I said, ‘Was the blanket comfortable?’ He said, ‘Very.’ I told him, ‘Good. Keep it. At this rate, we might need it again.’ People will see two goals and an assist and start talking about the Ballon d’Or. They’ll compare him with Yamal, Saka, whoever they want. I see something slightly different. I see a player who can sit there for an hour while his country is losing and somehow look like the least worried person in the stadium. Not because he doesn’t care. Because he believes that if his moment comes, he will do something with it. There is a difference between arrogance and certainty. Michael has that strange certainty. He doesn’t need ninety minutes to convince you he was important to the match. Tonight France were losing when he stood up from that bench. Thirty minutes later, Belgium probably wished I had left him under the blanket.”