It is apt that the most perplexing football country will now be guided by the most enigmatic of leaders.
E ven in his playing days, Zinedine Zidane seemed unknowable. As a manager, the sense of distance has only grown.
On Friday, the two come together as Zidane, for the first time, leads France in their Nations League fixture against Turkey, an enigmatic coach leading a mercurial squad.
Zidane is one of five coaches to have won the Champions League on three or more occasions, ranking alongside Bob Paisley, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique and behind only Carlo Ancelotti. In that spell he won one La Liga title.
Like so much else in his career, his motivations were opaque.
Madrid and Barcelona win everything, so for a Madrid coach to win half the league titles available is what would be expected.
Zidane’s Madrid, in his first spell, were dominant.
Rarely has that been felt as acutely as in 2016, when they beat Roma and Wolfsburg, then edged by Manchester City on penalties in the semi-final thanks to a Fernando own goal before beating Atlético Madrid on penalties in an unmemorable final.
Yes, Ronaldo and Luka Modrić were often brilliant, but there was also carelessness, in the quarter-final win against Juventus when they let a three-goal lead slip before a late penalty rescued them. Victory over Liverpool in the final came after a shoulder injury sustained by Mohamed Salah in a challenge with Sergio Ramos, an error by a possibly injured Loris Karius and a Gareth Bale wonder goal.
At the least, it can be said that Zidane has an aura.