Starmikecomedy Player Tracker: Zidane, One of the Greatest Footballers That Ever Liveth

Here, we present to you, one of the world’s finest footballers who has made football so easy to play and watch. Many will agree with us; some have called him Football Made Easy. One would not be wrong to place him among the top three footballers to ever play the beautiful game of football. A player who only left his coaching duties having succeeded in creating a football coaching record. A football legend in every sense of it. He is no other person than ZINEDINE ZIDANE.

Zidane’s Early Football Beginning & Clubs’ Adventure

Zinedine was born on 23 June 1972 in La Castellane, Marseille, in Southern France to Smaïl and Malika, who emigrated to Paris from the village of Aguemoune in the Berber-speaking region of Kabylie in northern Algeria in 1953 before the start of the Algerian War. He was the youngest child. His parents settled at Marseille notoriously known for high crime and unemployment rates. This explains the strict upbringing he was subjected to. He credits his father as the “guiding light” in his career perhaps due to the discipline he inculcated in Zinedine.

Zidane at the age of five had his earliest introduction in football in Castellane, where he played football with neighbourhood's children played on the Place Tartane. He got his his first player's licence after joining the junior team of a local club from Castellane by the name of US Saint-Henri when he was 10 years old. The performance of Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup left an indelible mark on him that made Zidane to later state Maradona “was on another level”.

Zidane went on to play football at a professional level, moving from Cannes to Bourdeux, from Bourdeux to Juventus and lastly at Real Madrid. At Cannes, after making his professional debut on 18 May 1989, he scored his first goal for his club on 10 February 1991 against Nantes in a 2-1 victory. He got a car from Cannes’ chairman as a gift for scoring his first goal. While in Cannes, Zidane was extraordinary on the ball and showed glimpses of the talent that would take him to the top of the world game. Cannes secured their first ever European football berth while Zidane enjoyed a full season in their club.

In Bourdeux where he transferred to, he helped the club to win 1995 Intertoto Cup and later in 1996, received the award for Ligue 1 Player of the Year.

After a series of standout performances for both Bordeaux, Zidane had offers to join Europe's top clubs in the spring of 1996, he then joined the UEFA Champions League winners Juventus during the close season. His impact was immediately felt with Juventus winning the 1996–97 Serie A title and the 1996 Intercontinental Cup. He was named Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year in his first season and was chosen in a European XI to face a World XI in December 1997. In 1998, Zidane was named FIFA World Player of the Year, and won the Ballon d'Or. In 2001, Zidane was named Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year for the second time.

In 2001, Zidane joined Real Madrid for 150 billion Italian lire, which was a world record fee. He became part of the Galácticos. He marked his first season at the club with his famous match-winning goal in Madrid's 2–1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final. Zidane went on to help Real Madrid win the 2002–03 La Liga, marshalling the midfield with Luís Figo, and was named the FIFA World Player of the Year for the third time. To celebrate UEFA's fiftieth-anniversary in 2004, fans voted him as the best European footballer of the previous 50 years in Golden Jubilee Poll.

Zidane was sent forth on 7 May 2006 by Real Madrid, after he announced his plans to retire after the 2006 World Cup. 80,000 thousand fans attended the event. A banner reading, "Thanks for the magic" was raised in appreciation for the rare talent that graced Santiago Bernabeu.

Zidane’s International Career

Zidane first played for France, making him ineligible to play for Algeria, where his parents emigrated from. The both countries had considered him a citizen. He earned his first cap with France in a game against Czech Republic on 17 August 1994. With Eric Cantona absent from the national team as a result of suspension, Zidane took over the playmaker position. Zidane led the France team to win the world cup in 1998. This merited him a national award - Légion d'honneur later that year. Two years later, he inspired France to win Euro 2000. UEFA had to describe his performance in the tourney in this way: “In Belgium and the Netherlands, Zidane dominated a major championship in a way no individual had managed since Diego Maradona in 1986. From the opening game against Denmark to the final against Italy, 'Zizou' shone brightly, casting a spell on his opponents with clever flicks, mesmerising stepovers, slaloming runs and masterful vision.” Little wonder, he ended the tournament as the best player. Zidane later retire after the unsuccessful Euro 2004 but came out of retirement to captain to world cup 2006 in Berlin which was eventful for him. Zidane head-butted Materrazzi in the final of the world cup against Italy, which merited him a straight red card. This marked Zidane’s career twilight. He later said, "If you look at the fourteen red cards I had in my career, twelve of them were a result of provocation. This isn't justification, this isn’t an excuse, but my passion, temper and blood made me react." Following the red card in the final, Zidane retired from professional football and confirmed that he would not go back on his decision. He was sentenced by FIFA to a three match suspension for the red card and agreed to complete three days of community service with children in one of FIFA's humanitarian projects.

Zidane after Retirement

Zidane since his retirement has regularly played for the Real Madrid Veterans team and had made several futsal appearances. He revealed his plans to return to football fully in an interview in June 2008. Zidane became an advisor to Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez. He worked with general director Jorge Valdano and sporting director Miguel Pardeza in making sporting decisions. He later became Qatar’s World Cup bid ambassador, which Qatar eventually won; an outcome that made Zidane happy. Zidane has supported two Olympic bids for Paris, the 2012 Summer Olympics bid failed while the bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics was successful. Zidane has been involved in some charity events like a match in northern Thailand for the Keuydaroon children's AIDS charity, annual Match against Poverty, matches whose proceeds are given to UNICEF and for fight against ebola-epidemic. At the reqest of then Real Madrid Jose Mourinho, he was appointed as a special adviser to Real Madrid's first team in November 2010. In 2013, he was made an assistant coach to Carlo Ancelotti. In June 2014, Real Madrid announced that Zidane would be the coach of Real Madrid's B team, Real Madrid Castilla. 

With the dismissal of Rafael Benitez as the manager of Real Madrid, Zidane became the new manager of the club on a two-and-a-half-year deal. He went on to create a UEFA football coaching record of lifting three Champions League trophies consecutively. Zidane also became the seventh person to win European Cup as a player and manager; the second person to win the cup as a player and manager for Real Madrid; one of the three managers to win the trophy three times, and the first French manager to win the trophy. Zidane's success saw him named Best FIFA Men's Coach in 2017.  On 31 May 2018, Zidane announced his resignation as Real Madrid manager, citing the club's "need for change" as his rationale for leaving his post. This is not the last we will hear of this great in football, he will surely be back to coaching. "We all know that my father loves football and loves to coach," Enzo, Zidane’s son would tell Diario AS. "It's most likely that he will return to coaching soon."