You don’t need to be half French to worship Zizou the magnificent, but it probably helps

Welcome to a new episode of the My Sporting Hero podcast, part of Nutmeg FC. The home of brilliant football stories – made in Scotland.

So far this month, Nutmeg FC subscribers have enjoyed....

* Former Dundee United, Aberdeen and Hibs star Mixu Paatelainen telling us why his dad Matti is his sporting hero.

* Iain Macintosh giving us the skinny on Duncan Ferguson’s sensational autobiography, with nine things we didn’t know about the Everton legend.

* Adam Clery analysing how Scotland’s Lewis Ferguson became the tactical lynchpin to Bologna’s brilliant season.

Great content still to come includes....

* The Slow Match Report from Daniel Gray reporting on the Premiership playoff final.

* Stephen McGowan’s three-part investigation into plastic pitches in Scottish football.

Only paid subscribers to Nutmeg FC get every piece we produce straight to their inbox – including the full version of today’s episode.

This time on My Sporting Hero, our guest is Christophe Berra.

Christophe was a central-defensive stalwart for Hearts during two spells at Tynecastle, which bookended eight years south of the border at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town. He sat on the bench for Hearts’ 2006 Scottish Cup triumph over Gretna but received a winner’s medal, and won the second tier with the Jambos in Scotland and with Wolves in England, going on to grace three Premier League seasons with the Molineux club. He also won the Scottish Challenge Cup with Raith Rovers in 2022.

Christophe has such a cool name because his dad Christian is French. However, while he retains a soft spot for Les Bleus, Edinburgh-born Christophe’s allegiances are firmly with Scotland, and he proudly donned the dark blue of his nation 41 times.

Christophe retired from playing three years ago and is currently based in Alabama, as interim head coach of professional outfit Huntsville City.

Christophe’s sporting hero is former midfielder Zinedine Zidane – France’s World Cup-winning Monsieur Magnifique.

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