Old rivals, new dugouts
Vincenzo Montella takes charge of Turkey against Zinedine Zidane’s France on Friday. It’s a first for both men in this exact matchup: Zidane’s debut as national team boss, and a Nations League opener neither can afford to fumble. Montella and Zidane aren’t strangers. They clashed for the 2000-01 Scudetto and met again in the Euro 2000 final, which France won.
Speaking to L’Equipe, Montella didn’t hold back. “Zidane was football itself,” he said. What struck him most, he added, was how naturally the Frenchman slid from playing to coaching, a transition that trips up plenty of great players. He pointed to Zidane’s time with Real Madrid’s reserve side, Castilla, as the grounding that made the jump to the first team possible.
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Charisma that speaks louder than words
Montella kept circling back to one theme: presence. “Zidane has huge charisma, without even needing to show it. Players know what he says is true,” he said. Three Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018 back that up.
Zidane hasn’t managed in five years. Montella doesn’t see that as rust so much as an opportunity, time to watch the international game shift and adjust his thinking. Still, the Italian admits he’s guessing at France’s setup. A 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, most likely, though he won’t commit to which.
Everything to play for at kickoff
Turkey open their Nations League campaign against a France side mid-rebuild. Zidane is missing a handful of players, Ibrahima Konate among them. Montella will be banking on surprise to unsettle a heavyweight opponent on home soil.
At 52, the Italian has built a career on getting locker rooms right, fast. A former Roma and Fiorentina forward, he went on to manage Fiorentina, Sampdoria and AC Milan in Serie A before restoring his name in Spain with Sevilla, then in Turkey. First matches under pressure aren’t new to him either; he’s made a habit of walking into jobs that needed fixing.
Win or lose, Friday is a useful shop window for Turkish football. Montella, though, never strayed far from the subject of the man across the touchline.
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