Zinedine Zidane

Net Worth

$120,000,000

Born in (City)

Marseille

Born in (Country)

France

Date of Birth

23rd December, 1972

Date of Death

Mother

Malika Zidane

Father

Smail Zidane

Children

Enzo Fernández
Elyaz Zidane Fernández
Luca Zidane
Theo Zidane

About

In 2002 football world cup, France failed to score even a single goal in their first 3 matches and when you sit back to think the reason, then and there we understand what Zidane had been doing for the team. He was injured in the very first match and sat out for the next two matches and France fell flat on their faces with literally no goals at all. Without their master, they looked clueless and couldn't produce match winning performances. And that's when I realized what Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović actually meant with this, "Zidane was from another planet. When Zidane stepped onto the pitch, the ten other guys just got suddenly better. It is that simple". It really looked that simple, with him on field, France was a different team altogether. Everything seemed so different, so easy, so classy.

Early Life

Born on 23rd June, 1972, Zidane was the youngest of 5 siblings. He is a Muslim of Algerian Kabyle descent and he's proud of those roots. His earliest introduction in football started in Castellane, at the age of five when he joined the neighbourhood's children who played on the Place Tartane. He got his first player's license at the age of ten after joining the junior team of US Saint-Henri, a club from Castellane. Zidane joined SO Septèmes-les-Vallons a year and a half later and stayed with Septèmes until the age of 14, at which time he was selected to attend a three-day training camp at the CREPS (Regional Centre for Sports and Physical Education), footballing institute run by the French Football Federation. It was here that Zidane was spotted by AS Cannes scout and former player Jean Varraud, who recommended him to the training centre director of the club. He played for several clubs including Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid. He won his earlier trophies including two Serie A titles with Juventus, which he joined in 1996. With a transfer fee which was a record for 8 years, he moved to Real Madrid in 2001.

Road to Success

The first ever world cup he had been part of, 1998 football world cup made him a national hero for all right reasons. With his two identical goals in the finals against Brazil, Zidane lead the team into the half time with 2-0 lead and a hand on the first ever France's world cup. With Petit’s goal in the second half, France sealed the cup with 3-0 and Zidane was named the man of the match and received the Legion of honour later that year and also won Ballon d'Or. There were more than a million people lined the Champs-Élysées in Paris, celebrating, centred around the Arc de Triomphe. Two years later France won Euro 2000, becoming the first team to hold both the World Cup and the European Championship since West Germany in 1974. Zidane finished with two goals, a bending free kick against Spain in the quarter-final and the golden goal in the semi-final against Portugal with a penalty. UEFA named Zidane Player of the Tournament. Zidane believed he was at his peak and UEFA website also mentioned that he dominated a major championship in an unbelievable way since Maradona in 1986. He was the only player to have won the World cup and European Championship while being the best player in both tournaments. No one in the history of Football has achieved this so far. He played his final world cup in 2006, in which he played an iconic game against Brazil at the age of 34 and this game showed how much he wanted to end his career being on top. He was so mesmerizing that Brazilian team players paid their respects to the team after losing. France eventually lost to Italy in the final of 2006 world cup in a penalty shoot-out losing 3-5, in which Zidane was given a red card for his infamous head burst against Italy's Marco Materazzi.

Challenges

Sustaining a thigh injury in the warm up match, Zidane had to sit out for the World Cup match on 2002 and France failed to score in both the occasions. He was prematurely sent out into the field for the next match but he couldn't help France from getting eliminated in the first round of the tournament without ever scoring. He has lost atmost 15 games but he always got back up and showed the world why he was thr most expensive player at that time. While the competition was always among the people with the number of goals against their names, Zidane stayed special with his genius of understanding the game and the dribbling. And even with those special skills, he retired as the fourth highest goal maker for France. His parallel peers were always in awe of him. His rival clubs and team managers wanted him in their teams. David Beckham named him the greatest of all time.

Failures

Often labelled as Flawed genius, Zidane had his share of failures, often due to this on-field aggression. His passion for Football ran deep in his blood. He had a total of 14 red cards in his career out of which 12 were caused due to provocation, so he claims. His headbutt in the final of 2006 final is regarded as one of the expensive foul plays ever. Fans and a lot of critics opined that had lost France another world cup, potentially. Following his red card in the final, Zidane retired and he was sentenced by FIFA to a three-match suspension for the red card. He agreed to complete three days of community service in one of FIFA's humanitarian projects. Zidane tied with another player from Brazil, Cafu, for the record for most cards given in World Cup matches. He is currently the Real Madrid manager, the only French man to win three UCLs from his first season.

Achievements

Quotes

It will be a physical encounter but we must not respond in kind.
Marseille cannot have any regrets about this match,
My passion for the game comes from the city of Marseille itself. Unfortunately I can't go back there as much I want to because I play a lot here and abroad.
I don't know if we are the best team in the world. I am lucky to be playing alongside some of the best players around. It's a dream.
I love Madrid. I am happy to be here. I have been here three years and hope to be here longer. But I am proud of where I come from and never forget the people I grew up with.