France appoints former goalkeeper Fabien Barthez to coach the national team’s goalkeepers under new head coach Zinedine Zidane. The move reunites two World Cup-winning teammates from the 1998 France squad, when Zidane and Barthez played together.
Zidane is newly appointed and takes charge on a multi-year contract, replacing Didier Deschamps, who previously led France. Across the reports, Barthez is described as the goalkeeper coach for Les Bleus, with outlets highlighting the shared 1998 and 2000 successes that Zidane and Barthez achieved at international level.
The articles broadly align on the roles and timing of the appointment, though they differ mainly in the amount of detail provided about the contract length and Zidane’s predecessor. All accounts present the staffing change as part of Zidane building his coaching team for France’s forthcoming matches and tournaments.
