18 December 2022
A hug between two French champions from Juventus: Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane. The current coach of France and Zizou were the first Bianconeri to win a World Cup outside of the Italy national team - it's a story that will continue 20 years later with Blaise Matuidi at Russia 2018 and will have another winner this Sunday in the Argentina-France final, which will see Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes or Adrien Rabiot crowned as world champions.
CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD
A photo of Deschamps and Zidane in the 1996/97 season. Both provide a great contribution to a year in which they already became world champions with Juventus, winning the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo. When the World Cup begins in France in 1998, the two already know how to achieve great things.
CAPTAIN & CLASS
Deschamps is the captain of France, and as such he will be the one to receive the World Cup at the end of the final from the hands of another Juventus player, Michel Platini. Didier's 1998 is his fourth year in Turin, whilst Zidane, on the other hand is playing his second and his best ever for Juve, as confirmed by his 11 goals this season. In the last act of the World Cup he will unlock France-Brazil with a brace that will announce himself on a global level.
BIANCONERI IN LES BLEUS
Juventus-Milan, a decisive match of the second half of the season gives a big push to the Bianconeri to win the Scudetto with a clear 4-1 win. Deschamps duels with Desailly, another one of the pillars of the French national team in 1998. In the 22-man squad for the World Cup, in addition to Didier and Zinedine, there are other players who will wear the black and white shirt in the following years. In order of shirt number: Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Lilian Thuram and David Trezeguet.
