He is Zidane's very old friend
Zinedine Zidane and David Bettoni's friendship dates back to the 1980s when the two youngsters met each other in one of the communal homes in Cannes. The city is also a place where Zizou launched his player career in 1990.
"Cannes didn't have any training facilities and the boys lived in the city," Zidane and Bettoni's former teammate Mickael Madar once told the media.
"Bettoni needed a bidet to give himself a foot bath, to relieve his blisters, and only Zidane had one in his room. Sharing things like that created a very strong bond between them."
Zinedine Zidane (upper left, circled) and David Bettoni (bottom right, circled) at Cannes
Already back then, the two teenagers were spending plenty of free time together.
"They were always together, they looked like twins even though one had dark hair and the other blonde. They would eat together every night too," another former teammate of Zidane and Bettoni Denis Armbruster recalls.
The duo came back to Cannes in 2013 to pay tribute to Jean Varraud, the man who reportedly spotted young Zidane and allowed him to train with the French side
He is always somewhere near Zizou
In 1996, six months after Zidane left France to play for Juventus, Bettoni followed him to play in Italian teams close to Turin. This lasted until 2002 – Bettoni decided to come back to France while Zidane established himself as a Real Madrid star.
Their joint journey restarted 11 years later when Zidane brought Bettoni to Real Madrid to work as a scout. In 2013, the two even travelled to Lyon to watch Gareth Bale feature for Tottenham Hotspur ahead of his Madrid switch.
Three years later, Bettoni obtained his coaching license and officially became Zidane's assistant manager.
He's a trophy hunter
Bettoni has been Zidane's assistant coach since Zizou's first day at Real Madrid which means that David massively contributed to the Whites' three consecutive Champions League wins, as well as to the remaining 10 cups placed in Zidane's trophy cabinet.
Hamidou Msaidie (rehab coach), Zinedine Zidane and David Bettoni in 2018
He remembers who's the real boss
After the 4-1 win over Alaves, Bettoni confirmed that he had actually phoned Zidane during the game to ask about the subs the boss would make.
The difference was made, Karim Benzema scored his second of the night, yet Bettoni knew that it was Zidane's opinion that mattered the most.
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