Zidane breaks France's strange curse after 32 years

Zizou began his era with a hard-fought away win

Zinedine Zidane broke a historic curse for France, claiming victory in his first match at the helm of Les Bleus' technical staff (1-0) against hosts Turkey, in the fixture that brought the two sides together on Friday evening, as part of the first round of the UEFA Nations League.

The win made Zidane the first France manager to triumph in his opening match since Aimé Jacquet, who steered Les Bleus to a 1-0 victory over Italy in Naples on 16 February 1994, courtesy of a goal from Zizou's former team-mate Youri Djorkaeff.

Between Jacquet's start with the national team and Zidane's arrival, five managers took charge of Les Bleus and not one of them won his first match, according to the French newspaper "L'Équipe".

Roger Lemerre drew 2-2 with Austria in 1998. Jacques Santini drew 1-1 with Tunisia in 2002, and Raymond Domenech managed the same scoreline against Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004.

Laurent Blanc lost his first match 2-1 to Norway in 2010, then Didier Deschamps drew goalless with Uruguay on his own bow with the national team in 2012.

There is a special irony to Zidane's start. Jacquet was the very man who handed him his first international cap as a player, against the Czech Republic in August 1994.