Zidane assured place in Real hearts

MILAN, May 29

In leading Real Madrid to their 11th European Cup less than five months after inheriting an unhappy team from Rafael Benitez, Zinedine Zidane has cemented his heroic status at the Bernabeu and appears to have assured his immediate future.

Although neither Zidane nor Real’s notoriously trigger happy president Florentino Perez have confirmed whether the French coach would remain in charge, there could be no political capital gained from axing the coach now. The Frenchman has enjoyed special status since his wondrous volley against Bayer Leverkusen won the 2002 Champions League, although he must know Saturday’s shootout victory over Atletico Madrid does not guarantee him a long future at the club.

He only needs to look at the fate of the last two coaches to lead Real to European glory, Vicente del Bosque and Carlo Ancelotti, both sacked 12 months later, as a reminder of that. Zidane’s next task is to wrest the La Liga title back from Barcelona, who finished a solitary point above his side. Zidane picked up more points than Barca and Atletico since succeeding Benitez on January 4, including victories in the last 12 games, although the football his team played lacked the sparkle of Luis Enrique’s championship-winning side.

The most graceful of players, Zidane has proved to be a great pragmatist as a coach, stressing on the eve of the final that his team’s plan was to “run, run and run”. Real’s win owed more to the gutsy determination of defensive midfielder Casemiro and man of the match Sergio Ramos than the flair players Perez loves to recruit. Zidane never tires of stressing the value of hard work.

Another key to Zidane’s early success with Real has been to create a happy atmosphere among a squad that never bonded with predecessor Benitez. “There is a very good feeling between us and Zidane, he has brought happiness, hope, humility and hard work,” Ramos said. — Reuters