The squad played on a short pitch before kicking balls into the stands of the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium at Madrid’s training grounds.
Advertisement
“We have to do our best so that the team is able to win something”, said Zidane.
The club traditionally opens its doors to the first practice session of the year.
And some gave Zidane the benefit of the doubt, pointing to the precedent of Pep Guardiola, a legend as a player who graduated from a season in charge of Barcelona’s B team to become the most successful coach in the club’s history.
The length of Zidane’s contract has not been made public, but his first match in charge will be Saturday’s home La Liga game against Deportivo la Coruna.
Zidane is the 11th coach to be unveiled in club president Florentino Perez’s reign, with Los Blancos now trailing Primera Division leaders Atletico Madrid by four points after 18 games.
“I want to acknowledge the dedication of Benitez during his time as coach of Real Madrid”.
Zidane was named manager on Monday when Benitez was sacked midway through his first season. He also showed no hard feelings for his replacement in an open letter on his personal website.
“I want to take this opportunity I have at the best club in the world”.
It will be the first major coaching job for the former playmaker, whose career was marked by greatness on the field but also by his head-butting of an Italian defender in the 2006 World Cup final.
“El Guardiola de Florentino”, wrote the Sport daily. “But it’s not going to be a walk in the park for him. Anyhow, without being ironic, I wish him (…) good luck”.
“We have two that we can win and we’re going to go for it”, the Frenchman said, perhaps in a sly dig at predecessor Rafa Benitez making a monumental balls-up of the Copa Del Rey.
While those Real fans never really warmed to Benitez, who replaced the popular Carlo Ancelotti in June past year, they adore Zidane.
“The best person for the job”, trumpeted David Beckham, a former team-mate of Zidane at Real, on Instagram.
That means Zidane must find a way to topple Barcelona as either European or Spanish champion.
Advertisement
Despite Real Madrid’s league position, it was clear that Benitez entrusted Bale with a key central role in the star-studded team, amassing nine goals and seven assists in 13 La Liga appearances.
