Happy birthday Zidane!
On his birthday, let us look at some of the key moments from the life of the glorious and illustrious football star:
- Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on June 23, 1972 in La Castellane, Marseille in France
- At the age of 10, Zidane joined the junior team of a local club called US Saint-Henri in Castellane
- Zidane went for a six-week training at AS Cannes, a French football club but ended up staying with them for four years
- Zidane was discovered as a player by his first coach Jean Varraud, who noticed Zidane as a raw, aggressive player who used to attack people for racially abusing him or his family. Jean taught him to control his anger and focus more on the game. Jean spoke about him, "He'd go past one, two, three, five, six players - it was sublime. His feet spoke with the ball"
- He scored his first goal in 1989 at the age of sixteen against FC Nantes in a French Division 1 match
- Zidane joined FC Bordeaux in 1992. He made 139 appearances for the club and scored 28 goals
- He played for his nation, France, in a friendly way against Czech Republic which ended up in a draw. (2-2, both goals scored by Zidane)
- Zidane joined Juventus FC in 1996 and helped his team to win the 1996-97 Series A title and the 1996 Intercontinental Cup. He had a glorious time with the club appearing 151 times and scoring 24 goals
- He was named the FIFA Player of the year and won the Ballon d'Or in 1998
- In the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Zidane helped his team to emerge as the champions defeating Brazil in the final, 3-0, two of which were scored by Zidane
- In 2000, France won the Euro Cup where Zidane delivered his memorable 'bending' free kick to knock out Spain from the quarter-final. He was named the 'Player of the Tournament' by UEFA
- In 2001, Zidane signed a four year contract with Real Madrid FC for a world record fee of 75 million Euros
- He won the title of the FIFA World Player of the Year for the second and third time in 2000 and 2003, respectively
- The 2006 FIFA World Cup was his last World Cup. France lost the finals to Italy in penalty shootouts(5-3). The final between France and Italy became one of the most discussed football World Cup finals, as Zidane delivered his infamous 'headbutt' to Italian player Marco Materazzi in the extra time and was immediately sent off the field after being shown a Red Card
- He received the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball in 2006
- Zidane retired immediately after the 2006 World Cup but continued to make futsal appearances
- In 2010, he was an ambassador for Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup
- He was voted the best European footballer of the previous 50 years by his fans in 2004
- In 2009, he earned the title ESPN Player of the Decade
- Zidane was conferred with the Legion of Honour by the French government and was promoted to Officer in 2009
- His name was included in the World Soccer Greatest XI of all time in 2013 and in the Goal Hall of Fame in 2014
- He took up coaching and was appointed as the manager of the Real Madrid B Team, Real Madrid Castilla in 2010 and was later appointed as the Manager of Real Madrid in 2015. He has signed a two and a half year contract with the club.
Brazilian legend Pele once quoted about Zidane, "He is the master. Over the past ten years, there's been no one like him, he has been the best player in the world."
Source: Indiatoday
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