Clairefontaine enters a different rhythm on Monday as Zinedine Zidane begins work with France, opening a three-week Nations League camp that will quickly carry Les Bleus from the national training centre to Izmir and Saint-Denis.
Zidane was unveiled on 28 July as Didier Deschamps’ successor and named his first squad on Friday. Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and the rest of the selected group now report for four matches in little more than a fortnight.
Quick facts
- Zidane starts his first France camp on Monday at Clairefontaine.
- France face Turkey in Izmir on 25 September.
- Belgium are the opponents on 28 September and again on 5 October.
- Italy visit Saint-Denis on 2 October.
- Players will not conduct individual media interviews during the camp.
The former Real Madrid coach has already indicated that Clairefontaine will be treated less as a stage for arrival photographs and more as a private working base. France’s communications operation will no longer use social media in the same way to circulate images of internationals arriving in elaborate outfits.
Zidane stressed that he is not imposing a dress code. “I do not want to send a message about austerity,” he said. “Everyone can arrive dressed however they wish, but Clairefontaine has a different value: once we are here, we will be among ourselves and will try to manage the image a little more closely.”
The adjustment marks an early contrast with the Deschamps years. France travelled to their most recent World Cup, where they finished fourth, with a notably glamorous public profile, while Deschamps generally allowed players freedom over their clothing and would sometimes greet them at the camp entrance with jokes about their choices.
Media access will also be tightly controlled during Zidane’s first gathering. With fixtures arriving every three or four days, no one-to-one interviews have been scheduled for squad members; their only planned engagement with reporters will come after the opening training session.
Zidane, who has long kept his own public appearances to required moments, will limit his media duties to formal press conferences and broadcasters holding match rights. The first camp is therefore set to establish both a competitive schedule and a more contained public face for the new France manager.
