Zidane was born in Marseille to Algerian parents which made him eligible to play for both Algeria and France. He chose France and the rest as they say is history. ‘Zizou’ played for Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid during his career.
He won the Ligue 1 player of the year at Bordeaux which was followed by is transfer to Juventus where he would go on to win the best Italian footballer followed by the World record transfer to Real Madrid. It was at Madrid that he won his first champions league which included his match winning goal in the final.
But more than his club performance his performances for the French national team really stood out who he helped to win the world cup in 1998 and then the Euro’s in 2000.
What made him so special was the fact that he made the players around him so much better without ever looking like it. You could see the difference only once he was missing from the team. This can be most easily seen in the French team of the 2002 world cup. It was supposed to be one of the favourites for the title but with Zidane out with injury they could not even score a single goal. Yet in 2006 with Zidane back in form they reached the finals with Zizou winning the Golden Ball.
His vision, passing and control were unparalleled and his ability to make space even in the most narrowest of places was truly his specialty. Technique wise or fundamentally there has never really been a better player. Zidane was never very fast or possessed a ferocious shot but his play with the ball took care of that.
Most of his peers consider him the best player they have played with his France teammate Thierry Henry comparing him to ‘GOD’. Pele and Di Stefano consider him the best player in the past 30 years.
A totally complete player who could open up defenses with a touch of brilliance, there was never a more elegant or classier player to have graced French football.
Some of his memorable moments include his brace in the World Cup final 98, his goal in the final against Bayer Leverkusen to seal the Champions league, his two goals in the dying against England in Euro 2004 that completed the most improbable of comebacks and his performance in the 2006 World Cup including his audacious chip penalty in the final.
Although he had a more than unsavory end to his career with a headbutt on Materazzi, only a player of Zidane’s stature could possibly overcome such kind of negative attention with his reputation unscathed. Not many people pointed fingers at him knowing this is a guy who understands situations and game so beautifully it might just have been the right thing to do at the time although he did later apologise for it.
To the greatest European footballer of all time, here’s hoping his coaching career takes off to the same level as his playing career and may many more future people benefit from this vast pool of talent.