Zidane: 'I'm Happy in Turin'
Copyright � 1999 Nando Media
Copyright � 1999 Agence France-Presse
PARIS (April 30, 1999 2:28 p.m. EDT http://www.sportserver.com) - French World Cup hero Zinedine
Zidane has ruled out leaving Juventus after the season to play in Spain.
"I'm happy at Juve. I'm staying at Juve," he told the French sports daily L'Equipe Friday.
The 26-year-old playmaker for Juve caused a stir earlier this month when he revealed he might soon curtail his stay with the Italian champions and then move to Spain, primarily to satisfy his wife, who is Spanish.
Further fuel was added to the fire earlier this week when the Spanish press reported that Juventus vice-president Roberto Bettega had met with Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz.
Zidane told L'Equipe he had been wrong to publicly announce recently that his family was not happy in Turin.
"I made a mistake," he said.
Juventus boss Giovanni Agnelli, upset set by the comment, hit back, suggesting that Zidane's wife wore the trousers.
Zidane rejected the claim.
"It is certainly not true. In any case, like I said later, you must never mix your professional and daily life. And that's what I did."
The Frenchman however still left the door open for eventually moving to Spain.
"When I played in Bordeaux, I said: I'd like to play in Italy in the best championship in the world ... .' And I went to play in Italy. As for Spain, it's the same thing. The desire to play there ... But I state again. I'm happy in Turin," he added.
