Player Profile – Zinedine Zidane – Part 1
Zinedine Zidane is a former French world-cup winning football player. The Frenchman who has Muslim heritage has played for club teams in France, Italy and Spain. He was also the captain of the French national team during his time. He is often considered
to be one of the best midfielders in the history of the game.
Zidane was simply an icon in terms of football and during the FIFA World Cup 1998, he simply became a French sensation as he took the European side to the final of the tournament and helped them win the title as well. Later, the French team also managed
to become Champions in the European Championship 2000.
Zidane retired from international football for 5 years and after the “brief” retirement, the Frenchman decided to join his national side again in 2005 and captained the French team during the FIFA World Cup 2006. During the tournament, Zidane played the
role of a true captain. He was totally a one man show throughout the FIFA World Cup 2006 and helped his team reach the final of the tournament. Even though it was Zidane who walked out of the pitch after he was shown a red card, he was still given the golden
ball award after the FIFA World Cup 2006.
At the club level, Zidane has managed to win the UEFA Champions League in 2002 and also the La Liga with the Spanish club Real Madrid. He has also won the Italian Serie A along with Juventus.
Zinedine Zidane is one of those players who have managed to win the FIFA World Player of the Year three times. This honour is only shared by the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who used to play with him in Real Madrid. Zidane has also managed to win the Ballon
d’Or in 1998, after he helped the French team win the FIFA World Cup. After the FIFA World Cup 2006, he took retirement from professional football.
Zidane’s parents were Muslims who became a part of the French capital Paris, in 1954. Before they immigrated to France, they were a part of Algeria and they used to live in a village of Aguemone in the Kabylie region.
A few years later, his family decided to move to Marseille, the city where Zidane was born. The French player grew old in the same city and soon he joined a local club in the La Castellane district of Marseille. He was only 14 years old when he started to
become a “known” figure in his school and local club and this happened when he took part in the first-year junior selection for the league championship.
During this “participation,” he managed to impress Jean Varraud, who was a scout for AS Cannes. Zidane then looked forward to joining Cannes after he went there for a six weeks stay. During those months, the French player decided to stay in the club and
joined them for the following four years so that he could play football at professional level.
After being a part of Ligue 1, he managed to make his first appearance for his team when he was only seventeen years old. He bagged his first goal on 8th of February 1991 and after the goal, he got a car as a gift from the club’s president. After
his first season at Cannes, he managed to win a UEFA Cup.
Zidane, after four years, was transferred to Bordeaux during the 1992-1993 sesaon. For this club Zidane also signed a contract of four years and helped them win the 1995 Intertoto Cup and also helped them become the runner ups of the 1995-1996 UEFA Cup.
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