Zinedine Zidane
July 30th, 2009
Zinedine Yazid Zidane (French pronunciation: [Jazid Zidan zinedine], born June 23, 1972 in Marseille), popularly nicknamed Zizou, is a former French professional footballer. Played for club teams from France, Italy and Spain and was a member of the French national team. His career included helping France win the World Cup 1998 and UEFA Euro 2000, in addition to winning the Champions League 2002 UEFA as a galactic with Real Madrid.
One of only two to three times FIFA World Player of the Year winners (Ronaldo the other), Zidane was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1998. His skills were recognized in 2004 when Pele was included in the list of options for players of world football’s biggest and is widely regarded as the best player of his generation, along with Ronaldo. He retired from professional football after the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Zidane joined the junior team of U.S. Saint-Henri, a local club in the La Castellane district of Marseilles. At the age of 14 years, participated in the first year junior selection for the league championship, which drew the attention of AS Cannes explorer Jean Varraud. He went to Cannes for a stay of six weeks, but ended up remaining at the club for four years to play professionally. Zidane played his first Ligue 1 match at seventeen, and scored his first goal on February 8th, 1991, for which he received a car as a gift from the president of the team. His first season with Cannes culminated in a UEFA Cup berth.
Zidane moved to Girondins de Bordeaux for the 1992-93 season, winning the 1995 Intertoto Cup and finishing runner-up in the UEFA Cup in 1995-96 with the club four years. He played a set of midfield combinations with Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, who would become the trademark of Bordeaux and the French national team in 1998. In 1995, Blackburn Rovers coach Ray Harford had expressed interest in signing both Zidane and Dugarry, which team owner Jack Walker replied, "Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?"
In 1996, Zidane moved to Champions League winners Juventus at a cost of 3 million pounds, and won the 1996-97 Scudetto and the Intercontinental Cup, but lost the Champions League final of the UEFA 1997 to 3-1 Borussia Dortmund. It netted seven goals in 32 matches to help Juventus retain the Scudetto next season and his second Champions League UEFA consecutive final appearance, losing 1-0 to Real Madrid would be his next destination. Juventus were finalists in 2000-01, but were eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League, in which Zidane was ejected for headbutting Hamburger SV player Jochen Kientz.
In 2001, Zidane joined Real Madrid for € 78 million, the most expensive transfer fee in football history at the time, and signed a contract for four years. He scored the game-winning goal in the 2-1 win Madrid Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final
This complete quad personal. The next season, Zidane was named FIFA World Player of the Year for the third time. In 2004, fans voted on the top of UEFA’s fiftieth anniversary is Golden Jubilee Poll, and was included in the FIFA 100.
Despite scoring his first hat-trick in a 4-2 victory over Sevilla FC, Zidane’s final season of club football which ended trophyless. On May 7, 2006, Zidane, who had announced his plans to retire after World Cup 2006, played his last game at home and scored on a draw with Villarreal CF 3-3. The squad wore commemorative jerseys with "ZIDANE 2001-2006" under the logo of the club.
France and Algeria Berber (Kabyle) Zidane considered a citizen, but was ineligible to play for the national team of Algeria. There was also a rumor that coach Abdelhamid Kermali denied a seat for the Algeria squad because he felt the young midfielder was not fast enough. [4], however, dismissed the rumor of Zidane in a 2005 interview, saying he would have been ineligible to play in Algeria because he had already played for France.
He earned his first cap with France as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic on August 17, 1994, which ended in a draw after 2-2 Zidane scored twice to help France erase a 2-0 deficit. After Éric Cantona was handed a year’s suspension in January 1995 for assaulting a fan, Zidane took over the position of playmaker. France were eliminated in the semifinals of the UEFA Euro 1996 in a penalty shootout for the Czech Republic after the match ended 0-0 in extra time.
Zidane won the FIFA World Cup 1998 in France, scoring twice in the final against defending champions Brazil. He finished with two goals in France after winning the UEFA Euro 2000, becoming the first team to hold the World Cup and European Championship since West Germany in 1974. A thigh injury prevented Zidane from playing in France the first two games of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He rushed prematurely for the third game despite not being fully fit, but could not prevent France from being ignominiously eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single goal.
After France were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Euro 2004 by eventual winners Greece on June 12, 2004, Zidane retired from international football. With the mass retirement of key players as veterans Bixente Lizarazu, Marcel Desailly and others, France struggled to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, at the urging of coach Raymond Domenech, Zidane came out of retirement and was immediately reinstated as team captain. He made his competitive return in a 3-0 victory over the Faroe Islands on September 3, 2005, France won its qualifying group.
On May 27, 2006, Zidane earned his hundredth cap for France in a 1-0 friendly win Mexico, France became the fourth player to reach this milestone, after Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps and Lilian Thuram. Was replaced early in the second half.
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