Former France captain Zinedine Zidane will take his first steps towards becoming a fully fledged football coach when he sits the preliminary coaching exams this year.

In an interview with L'Equipe newspaper on Sunday, Zidane said: "I'll pass my coaching diplomas ... we'll see later on for the professional coaching licence.

"You have to start with something and I'll start this year."

Zidane, who led France to World Cup glory over Brazil 14 years ago, even mooted the idea of eventually taking over as coach of the French national team.

"One day, why not coach this team?" the former Real Madrid midfielder and later the Spanish giants' sporting director said.

"It's never the time to speak about it because there are always coaches in place, but you asked me the question, and you got my answer.

"I've got lots of other things to do beforehand. We'll see how it pans out later."