Real Madrid could not be in better hands this pre-season, in the eyes of Zinedine Zidane, as the French coach has David Bettoni as his assistant coach to keep tabs on things.
Bettoni and Zidane have been close friends since the latter was 16 years old, and he’ll be trusted with taking the reins over the sessions in the coming days with the coach having returned to Spain for personal reasons.
Hamidou Msaidie will also contribute, as will new physical coach Gregory Dupont.
It all started with a bidet
Bettoni was a player himself and he worked alongside Zidane during their shared time in Cannes’ youth ranks, with Zidane’s time there being his first years away from home.
Their friendship has a curious starting point though, as Michael Madar revealed to L’Equipe, as Bettoni frequently visited Zidane’s house to use his bidet in order to wash his feet.
Zidane developed impressively though and moved on, before eventually moving to Juventus.
Bettoni, an Italian speaker, decided to follow his friend to northern Italy and spent time playing at modest clubs like Avezzano, Alessandria and Brescello, while Zidane started carving out his iconic career in Turin.
A global friendship from Cannes to Turin and Madrid
Now the friendship lives on in another city, Madrid. Bettoni first arrived with no real title, but now he’s been named the Frenchman’s assistant.