Just Who is 'Zizou?'

Zinedine Zindance is perhaps most well know for his incredible headbut into the chest of Italian opponent Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup Final.  It was a jaw-dropping moment that tainted the career of one of the world’s finest ever players.

Zinedine grew up in a quiet, rough town, in Marseille called La Castellane and learned how to play football on the streets in the neighbourhood. After playing for local clubs Zidane was discovered at a French Football training camp by AS Cannes recruiter Jean Varraud, and spent the next 3 years honing his skills in Cannes’ youth division.

Zidane and the moment  of madness that tainted his almost perfect  professional career

Zidane was born on June 23^rd 1972 in Marseille, France. He made his professional appearance at Cannes at the age of 17 scoring a goal on his debut. He played for the same club for another 3 years until he transferred to Bordeaux in 1992. At the club he was a master of controlling the ball. He could find a teammate with a pinpoint pass and knew instinctively when to have a shot at goal. 

Although he was a fantastic player, he still had quite a bad temper a result perhaps of his difficult upbringing in Marseille. A few years after his time at Bordeaux he later moved in 1996 to a fantastic Italian club with a tradition of signing talented French players, Juventus FC. Zinedine had an amazing start helping steer Juventus to two Seria A titles and two consecutive Champions League finals.

France hosted the 1998 World Cup during the peak of Zidane’s prowess. Zidane scored 2 goals in the World cup final against Brazil to win 3-0, cementing his place as a French national hero. Two years later, Zidane again held the French team together with a 2-1 win over Italy to win the European Championship. 

Zizou scores a bullet header against Brazil in the final of World Cup 98

Three years after that famous World Cup win Zidane was transferred to the mighty Real Madrid for £46 million, this transfer was a world-record transfer fee at the time.

It was money well spent.  After two previous Champions League final appearances Zidane finally won the competition with Real Madrid in 2002 with an absolute wonder goal at Scotland's national stadium Hampden Park in Glasgow.  Zidane had clearly made an impression that he was all worth the wait and the money. At the height of his success at Real he was 30 years old and showing no sign of losing his touch or sharpness.

Is Zidane's wonder strike in the 2002 final the greatest goal ever seen at Hampden..??

When the world cup in Germany 2006 came along Zidane had indicated that he would retire after the tournament. It had appeared his career was heading for a historic finish when France got through to the final against Italy. Instead of having a fantastic finish to his career with winning the World Cup, he bowed out in disgrace. Italian defender Marco Materazzi allegedly said something about Zidane’s mum, he reacted very violently and head butted Materazzi in the chest. Zidane got sent off straight away and sadly France lost on penalties just to rub salt in the wounds for Zidane and The French National team.

Although he lost the World Cup final on penalties, he still had a fantastic career with 125 goals in his whole career. In 2013, he was appointed assistant coach to Carlos Ancelotti at Real Madrid. Zidane is still helping out at Real Madrid coaching the reserve team now in 2015. Zidane has definitely got himself in the record books for France, Real Madrid and Juventus he was a real legend for these clubs and will surely go down as one of the greatest of all time.

by Owen Lake