French coach Raymond Domenech has flown to Madrid for talks with Zinedine Zidane to ascertain whether the FIFA World Player of the Year intends to continue playing for his country.
The 32-year-old Real Madrid playmaker is rumoured to be contemplating quitting the national team, but Domenech is keen for Zidane to postpone his retirement.
“I will first of all listen to him. We don’t hold on to people if they don’t want it. We force no one. What matters is what he decides,” Domenech said before his departure for Madrid.
Fellow veterans Marcel Desailly and Lilian Thuram, who along with Zidane were membersof France’s World and European Championship-winning teams of 1998 and 2000, have recently announced their retirement from the international game.