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Frenchman Lilian Thuram officially returned to the Turin club website following the example of Claude Makelele and Zinedine Zidane and returned to represent his national team.
On Wednesday, the 33-year-old Zidane, who achieved the status of a legendary French player on his official website, denied promises made about his finished career in the French national team. Facing a difficult situation in the World Cup qualifiers, he decided to put on the "blue" jersey again.
At the same time, it was revealed that another 32-year-old goalkeeper, Claude Makelele, is returning to the national team. Zidane also mentioned the 33-year-old defender Thuram, who initially spoke mysteriously about his return, but finally dispelled all doubts now.
"It's true that I will continue my career in the national team. Coach Raymond Domenech has asked me several times to return, but I always refused. This time he pointed out that it is his duty to invite the best players and create a good team. At that moment, I could not say no," Thuram said.
"It's true that I will be very busy and have to play a lot of matches, but I have done that throughout my career. I was not sure if I wanted to come back, and this invitation felt like pressure, but I thought about it and realized that the coach is just doing his job. The French national team has given me so much throughout my career, and now I want to give something back," the Frenchman confirmed.
However, the footballer admitted that at his age, it will not be easy to cope with the increased physical load again: "Last year I did not participate in the World Cup qualifying matches, and football felt a bit different to me. I had more opportunities to rest, so I could recover more and regroup after relaxing."
Having represented the national team 103 times, the defender of the Juventus team has already been included in the French team for friendly matches against Ivory Coast on August 17. The next official matches await him and the other French players on August 3, when they will play against the Faroe Islands.
