Zinedine Zidane: France’s most gifted son

A profile of one of France’s most decorated and revered players, Zinedine Zidane.

Welcome to The Sporting Blog’s Legendary Players series, in which we will review top-class football players and give you an in-depth history of who they are and how they made a name for themselves.

In today’s edition, we are going to unleash the profile of France's most gifted and eminent player, Zinedine Zidane.

Zidane’s Early Life

Zinedine Zidane was born to Algerian parents in the neighbourhood town of La Castellane, Marseille, on June 23, 1972.

Though the port city of Marseille is perhaps one of the most picturesque and captivating places in Southern Europe, as the home of Zidane, it takes on a further special meaning in French folklore.

Zidane’s father, Ismail, worked as a warehouseman at a department store and his mother, Malika, was a housewife.

Zidane was the youngest of five siblings and although they breathed in a crime-ridden area, Zidane declares that his father’s guidance and direction assisted him to surmount hardships and never deviate towards any wrongdoing.

At the young age of five, the juvenile Zidane was introduced to the sport of football.

Mutually with his neighbourhood mates, he played football, at the main intersection of the housing complex known as, the Place Tartane.

In his early days, his affection and love for football were chiefly inspired by Olympique de Marseille's players including Jean-Pierre Papin, the world's first £10m player, Enzo Francescoli, and Blaz Sliskovic who were his soccer star idols at that time.

The Beginning of Zidane’s Football Journey:

At the age of ten, Zidane seized his first player permit for the junior side of a local club from La Castellane. He developed his skills on the rugged paths of La Castellane in Marseille, France.

However, his time at the club was short-lived and after about one and a half years he was moved to SO Septemes-les-Vallons.

His union with Septemes, however, remained for about two and a half years, after which he among those selected for a three-day training in Aix-en-Province at the CREPS (Regional Centre for Sports and Physical Education).

While training at CREPS, his skills were determined by AS Cannes recruiter, Jean Varraud, at a French Football Federation training camp. According to Varraud,

“He’d go past one, two, three, five, six players — it was sublime. His feet spoke with the ball. ”

After his flamboyant display of football in the camp, he was brought in where he spent his next three years, perfecting his skills in the Cannes' Youth division.

Zizou’s Professional Career:

Notwithstanding his early outlook on the field. It took 4 years until Zidane made his professional start as a footballer. Below is a deep look at his professional career with different clubs and his national side.

AS Cannes (1989-1992):

After his training in the Cannes' Youth division, young Zidane went on to make his debut for the club on May 18, 1989, against Nantes, who he would score his first professional goal against two years later.

It wasn’t until the 90-91 season that Zidane started to become a regular at Cannes, showing glimpses of his incredible talent and helping them achieve their highest Ligue 1 finish by becoming 4th.

During this time, he had a few disciplinary issues that were, for the most part, fixed after Cannes Director Jean-Claude Elineau took him under his wings.

Zizou made 61 first-team appearances for Cannes, scored 6 goals, and made 3 assists.

In Cannes, he showcased excellent footballing skills, compact playmaking abilities, and a great vision to drag away from the opposition. In AS Cannes's colours, Zidane displayed extraordinary technique on the ball, offering glimpses of the talent that would take him to the top of the world game.

Girondins de Bordeaux (1992-1996)

Having ascertained himself as a prominent raw talent, it was now time for Zidane to move to a bigger club and he ended up joining FC Bordeaux in the 1992-93 season, where he would become part of an all-embracing side and the era of the club.

His connection with Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry helped Bordeaux to win the Intertoto Cup in 1995 and reach the final of the 1995-96 UEFA Cup, which they ended up losing against the German top-flight team, Bayern Munich.

Zidane at Bordeaux

During this time there was a growing interest for Zidane across Europe’s top leagues, especially the English Premier League, but he opted for a move to Italian Serie A, after being named the 1995-96 Ligue 1 Player of the Season.

The more compact and well-polished Zidane made 140 starts for The Girondins, where he managed to score 28 goals and made 6 crucial assists, which helped his club to relish many unforgettable moments in the club's history.

Juventus Football Club (1996-2001):

Zidane’s hard work in Ligue 1 with FC Bordeaux didn’t go unheeded and the European Champions, Juventus, came knocking on his door.

The Frenchman decided to tie up with the Black and Whites in 1996.

At that time, Zidane also received many offers from other European clubs most notable of them was the proposal from Newcastle United, but all in vain. After his signing, success was soon to follow as he and Juventus went on to win the Serie A twice consecutively.

They would also reach the final of the Champions League in both seasons but ended up losing on both occasions to the German giants Borussia Dortmund and Spanish top side Real Madrid.

Though he managed to win an Intertoto Cup with Juventus the rest of his career with the Old Lady was devoid of any major trophy.

He managed to start 151 games for the Old Lady in which he scored 24 times and made 16 important and game-changing assists.

Although he had won almost everything in his time at Juve, going down as one of their greatest players, including a World Cup and a Euro with France, there was one crown that eluded him, the UEFA Champions League, so the next episode in Zinedine Zidane's career fiction had to be at the place that specialized in that trophy, Real Madrid.

Real Madrid C.F (2001-2006):

In what was the world record fee for transfers, Zinedine Zidane accepted to join Spanish super giants Real Madrid for €77.5 M in 2001, a record that would not be broken for another 8 years.

The expectations were high and soaring from Zizou as he combined with the world’s best players like Raul, David Beckham, Luis Figo, and Roberto Carlos.

As always, Zidane delivered when put in the spotlight as he went on to win the Champions League in his debut season with Real Madrid, with him scoring that memorable left-footed volley goal in the final, which remains one of the most beautiful goals in the competition’s history.

Zidane boosted Real Madrid with the Spanish La Liga title the following season and he plucked another Ballon d’Or nomination and a FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2003.

Despite only winning 2 major trophies with Real Madrid, Zidane has become an important part of Real Madrid’s history, notably because of his rank as one of the most exceptional athletes ever to pull on a football shirt and partly because of the way he performed on the pitch and later led Real Madrid to unimaginable glory as a manager.

He started in 155 matchdays for the Los Blancos, scored 37 impressive goals, and contributed 52 assists.

After 5 glorious seasons with Real Madrid, Zidane decided to hang his boots in 2006, shortly after his 34th birthday, with the 2006 World Cup final being his last official game.

Zidane and the French National Team

Zinedine Zidane became their greatest French player ever. He represented France in 5 major tournaments between 17 August 1994 when he made his debut against the Czech Republic and the 2006 World Cup.

Although he participated in Euro 1996 and reached the semi-finals with France against the Czech Republic; they lost in a penalty shootout.

But two years later, it was in the 1998 World Cup held on France’s soil that Zidane truly became a national hero as he helped France achieve a long-awaited dream by seizing a spot in the World Cup final and beating the defending champions Brazil in style. Zidane scored 2 goals with headers in the first half and Emanuel Petit later added a third.

France took that drive and momentum to Euro 2000, where Zidane was named the tournament’s best player, dominating every match and helping them win the title.

Zidane’s Goals for France

After 2 disappointing tournaments, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, Zidane announced his retirement from international commitment, but as France was battling to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, Zidane, Makelele, and Thuram came out of retirement and helped France to reach the World Cup.

He then went on a step further, leading France to the World Cup final, with his performance against Brazil in the quarterfinals being one of the best in World Cup history.

He scored from the spot in the final but ended the game by being sent off from that infamous head-butt into Materazzi’s stomach. France would lose the game on penalties to Italy. This would be Zidane’s last professional match.

Zizou scored 35 career goals for France in 110 matches for France.

Zidane’s Playing Style

One of the most elegant and technically gifted players of all time, Zinedine Zidane operated mainly as an attacking midfielder but he could operate a bit deeper or even further up the pitch as well.

As a midfielder and a playmaker, Zidane was extremely calm on the ball and yet his decision-making has been almost always perfect and he timed them perfectly, whether it was to dribble past opponents, take a shot or create chances for the team.

His impeccable dribbling skills allowed him to create more space for himself, which allowed him sufficient time to make his next decision. You would be hard-pressed to find a better dribbler than Zizou in football history.

Honours And Achievements:

With four individual awards to his name at the international level, Zinedine Zidane is widely considered one of the finest midfielders to ever grace the game, Zidane was known for his silky ball control and sublime passing. He registered one Ballon d'Or in 1998, and three FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 1998, 2000, and 2003 respectively.

Besides these, he has got over 100 individual awards at the club level under his belt.

Zidane won two UEFA Intertoto Cups, one with FC Bordeaux in 1995 and the other one with Juventus in 1999. With the Italian Old Lady, he has won two Serie A titles, one Supercoppa Italiana, one UEFA Super Cup, and one Intercontinental Cup.

With Real Madrid, Zidane has secured one La Liga title, two Super Copa de Espana, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup, and one Intercontinental Cup for the Spanish giants.

And Zidane has featured in three big tournaments in France's colours.

Two FIFA World Cups in 1998 and 2006 and the other one is the Euro 2000. He played a crucial part in all of the three major tournaments and winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 but losing the 2006 World Cup final to Italy on penalties.

Zidane = Skills

Zidane’s Finest Moment:

In my opinion, if I started to count the most incredible moments in Zizou's career, then I think it might take many weeks, months or, maybe years! So here are two of the finest, most charming, and most charismatic moments in Zizou's career. Both these moments came in 1998.

Triumphing the 1998 FIFA World Cup:

The first one is triumphing the 1998 FIFA World Cup trophy. France hosted the World Cup for the second time in their history in 1998, and going into the tournament expectations were high.

Les Bleus went on to win their three group games before they required extra time to edge past Paraguay in the last 16 of the competition. Zidane, who was suspended for the previous two games, came back for the quarter-final tussle with Italy.

A tight game ended 0-0, but Zidane's penalty in the shoot-out helped the French knock the Italians out of the competition.

They overcame Croatia in the semi-finals to book their place in the final, where they were to play Brazil - who had won the competition four years prior.

Two goals in the final as well as an overall man-of-the-match display from Zidane helped guide his nation to an unprecedented victory. Les Bleus swept Brazil aside 3-0 to win their first-ever World Cup, and Zidane was at the heart of it.

A special night in French footballing history.

Clutching the Ballon d'Or:

While the second one is winning the Ballon d'Or in 1998. Zidane made a fairly slow start to his career at Juventus, operating in a deep-lying midfield position. However, he soon found his feet, moving slightly further up the pitch to impact the game more.

In his first season with the Bianconeri, he won the Intercontinental Cup, Super Cup as well as Serie A. The Italian giants successfully defended their crown the following season, but they were unable to go all the way in the Champions League.

During this time, Zidane had proven himself as one of the world's very best players, making the impossible look effortless. And following his success at the World Cup with France, he won the Ballon d'Or, while he was also named FIFA World Player of the Year.

Legacy and Post Playing Career:

Zinedine Zidane has created a legacy of his own in football with his many achievements and accolades. In 2004, he was named the best European soccer player of the past 50 years by the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. This, subsequently, led to his name being included in the FIFA 100, Pele's List of the 125 greatest living soccer players of all time.

He also won the French Player of the Year Awards twice in the years, 1998 and 2002. Additionally, he is also one of the very few soccer players to win the FIFA World Player of the Year/ Ballon d' Or Awards three times.

In March 2001, Zidane was appointed as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. With this title, he annually captains a team of soccer stars against a side led by fellow retired soccer idol and United Nations Ambassador, Ronaldo, in a charity match.

In 2010, Zidane served as a high-profile ambassador for Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

In 2011, Zidane joined Real Madrid's front office as a chief adviser and was also named as the club's sporting director. Subsequently, in 2012, it was announced, that the French retired soccer legend, would start coaching at the Real Madrid Youth Academy.

This was the first step towards a new career by calling the shots from the sidelines of his favourite game.

In 2016, it was declared that Zidane would be the new coach of Real Madrid. As a manager, Zidane helped Los Blancos to triumph in two La Liga titles, two Supercoppa de Espana titles, three UEFA Champions League, two UEFA Super Cups, and two FIFA Club World Cups.

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