Zinedine Zidane: missing the Legend but his future hasn’t ended
Zinedine Zidane, the 80kg, 1.85m, man born on 23rd June, 1972, in Marseille, France is living proof that legends are true. Zidane started his football passion at an early age, joining the US Saint-Henri club and immediately became the star in his club.
His talent was later spotted by the coach of Septemes Sports Olympiques and he persuaded the director of the club to sign him. He left Septemes at the early age of 14 years and took part in the first year junior selection for the league championship and it was the same year the year the world found out the he was a genuine superstar.
Zidane was later invited for 3 days of trial at the sport regional centre in Aix-en-Provence, where Jean Varraud, a Cannes' recruiter, noticed the French/Algerian player. Zidane then took off for a 6 week expedition in Cannes but fate played its cards making him realize that he had to stay bit longer. Now was the time that the young Zidane aspired football for his dream and it’s unbelievable to think that at such a young age he had such a level of prudence and maturity; being just 16 he had started playing with professional at that time.
At the age of 17 he started playing in the First Division and made it clear that he wanted to be the best. His determination and courage was unparallel and it was obvious from his play that he had great passion for the sport. His first goal came on 8th February, 1991 playing for Cannes, day when his club’s president gave him a call reminding Zidane of a promise he made when the prodigy would score his first goal. A delighted Zidane remembered the promise as the president bought him one of the most expensive cars of that time.
Zidane (who also gained the nick name Zizou later)passed away his first season with the club in good memories as the club qualified for UEFA Cup and though his second season didn’t turn as it should have, his life changed for good on a personal level. It was when he met Veronique, a Spanish dancer, who later became the love of his life and afterwards he married her. After the joyous occasion Zidane felt that change was calling him and following a tepid season of 1991-1992, he signed a four year contract with Bordeaux but only after fierce competition from Marseille.
Zidane, now 24 years old, took some time adjusting to his new team. His starting with club was a bit hard but that wasn’t for long because he soon adjusted and was flying better than the best on the field. In his time Zidane helped the club pass through a lot. He helped them qualify every year he played for them into major leagues. One of his memorable campaign; was his great role in setting up the club in 1995-1996’s UEFA Cup, a tournament in which Zidane became known as the one man army. This also happened to be the last year of Zidane with the club.
After Bordeaux, the star was bought by Juventus and once more he had some short lived problems of fitting in and adapting to the ways. But after that Zizou showed his ace game again to the world. During his period with Juventus the club soared to new heights. They became the Winners of the 1996 European Super Cup; they became the Winners of the 1996 European/South American Cup and afterwards the Winners of the 1997 League Super Cup. They were also named the Italy Champions in 1997 and 1998. Also in the years of 1997 and 1998 they were the finalists of the Champions League.
Zidane made history in 2001 when Real Madrid bought him for 46 million pounds making him the most expensive player in the history of football. He also gained personal achievements like in 1998 and 2006 he received the Golden Ball. He was also named player of the year in the years of 1998 and 2000. After leading France to the finals of the 2006 World Cup, and his notorious ‘heat-butting incident’ Zinedine Zidane got retirement from professional football. Zidane and his wife Veronique, have two sons Enzo and Luca and he has appeared for various sporting brands and has participated in many human activist campaigns also making special appearances in charity matches.
Just recently he helped France attain the bid of the next FIFA World Cup in 2014. He might have a future plan of coaching like the maestro Maradona. Playing in the midfield his insight of the game will have sharpened immensely so it would be interesting to keep an eye on his future endeavours.
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