Zinedine Zidane to coach Real Madrid cantera

Madrid: Zinedine Zidane will coach one of Real Madrid`s cantera sides while he obtains his coaching qualifications, the Liga champions have announced.

The 40-year-old, who retired from football in 2006, has made no secret of his desire to move into management, having enrolled for the same university course as former France coach Laurent Blanc last year. Since hanging up his boots, Zidane has worked as an advisor to Madrid president Florentino Perez and coach Jose Mourinho, and he will now assume a new position within the club`s youth academy. "Zinedine Zidane will begin training to become a coach, while at the same time coach Real Madrid’s youth academy," a club statement read. "This year he will also complete his team-management qualification, which he started a few months ago. "That will allow him to formalise his knowledge and training, which will enable him to fulfill an aspiration that he made public in the press conference in which he announced his retirement as a player in April 2006: to work with Real Madrid`s youth academy." Zidane is expected to replace Alberto Giraldez as head of Madrid`s youth sector, and will be given the task of restructuring the department. Earlier in the month, France Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet claimed that the retired midfielder `dreams` of coaching Les Bleus in the future, as he sought a replacement for Blanc. Goal.com