Zinedine Zidane: A Tribute To The Best.

One of my first memories of watching football is seeing Zinedine Zidane float effortlessly past Manchester United in the 2002/03 season of the Champions League. As a United fan this hurt greatly to see but I only realise now: What I was watching then was a footballing legend in the making. It was this game where it was most evident that when a Madrid player was in trouble on the ball they would search for Zinedine Zidane and he would always be there waiting to take control of the match even further.

Born on the 23rd of June 1972 in a suburb called La Castellane in Northern Marseille, France, Zinedine Zidane was brought up by his Algerian parents and was the youngest of 5 siblings. Zidane began playing football in the streets of Marseille. At the age of 14 was spotted and later signed for Cannes in 1988. At Cannes, Zidane made his professional in a Ligue 1 game against Nantes on the 18th of May 1989. Funnily enough it was against Nantes, Zidane scored his first goal and this goal wasn't on his debut, instead on the 8th of February 1991. In the 1990/91 season Zidane was part of the Cannes' team which made its highest finish (4th) since 1948/49. Cannes made the UEFA cup where Zidane played 4 games in the 1991/92 season.

A move to Bordeaux for €7 million was next for Zidane who was beginning to earn some recognition as a very good footballer. In the 1992/93 season, his debut season at Bordeaux, Zidane scored 10 goals. For his next 3 seasons he got 6 goals but his midfield partnerships with Bayern Munich legend Bixente Lizarazu and former Birmingham City and Barcelona star Christophe Dugarry were two of the best around in world football at the time. In 1995 Bordeaux won the Intertoto Cup. After this season, Blackburn Rovers manager, Kenny Dalglish asked owner Jack Walker to sign the Frenchman. To this Walker famously replied 'Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?' In 1996 even Zidane couldn't help Bordeaux win the UEFA Cup and they left the final as losers. 

Following the loss of the UEFA Cup final with Bordeaux, Champions League winners at the time, Juventus made the signing of Zidane for £3.2 million. In his first season he won the 1996/97 Serie A title and the Intercontinental Cup. In the 1997 Champions League final the world saw one of the greatest showings from a central midfielder of the time. This magnificent showing was not from Zidane but instead his marker, Paul Lambert, who played for Borussia Dortmund. Lead by Lambert's remarkable showing, where he kept Zidane's impact to a minimum, Dortmund won the final 3-1. Juventus won the Serie A once again in 1997/98. He won the first of his Fifa World Player Of The Year awards in 1998. Another brilliant season from Zidane, where he scored 7 goals, lead many people to think that this was the year they would see Zidane at his finest in a Champions League final. However Zidane who was marked by the Argentinian, Fernando Redondo was unable to change the game as Real Madrid won the 1998 final 1-0 against Juventus. Zidane added another Intertoto Cup medal to his achievements but was unable to make the 1999 Champions League final as Manchester United, lead by a remarkable Roy Keane performance, won the Semi final against Juventus. In 2000 he received his second World Player Of The Year Award. In the 2000/01 Zidane watched his team mates from the sideline following his ban after headbutting Hamburg centre back Jochen Kientz. Following 4 consecutive Semi final visits (reaching the final on 3 occasions) Juventus were unable to make it any further than the Group Stages. In this season they also finished Runners Up in Serie A. This was the end to Zidane's career as a Juventus player, which was a great regret for him personally that he was never able to win a Champions League during his time at Juventus.

In 2001 Zidane changed World Football by joining Real Madrid for a World Record Transfer fee at the time of almost €75 million. This was the beginning of the Florentino Perez's 'Galactico' era at Real Madrid. In 2001, Zidane finally won the much coveted Champions League and Madrid had the Frenchman to thank after quite possibly the greatest goal scored in a Major Competition final. Madrid went on to beat Leverkusen 2-1 and this was, for me, Zidane's finest achievement whilst playing for his club. In the 2002/03 season he won his first and only La Liga during his time at Real Madrid. Zidane won a 3rd World Player Of the Year award in 2003 much to the delight of those who realised they were watching quite possibly the greatest player in French history. However, this was Zidane's last World Player Of The Year award as Ronaldinho won the next two awards prior to Zidane's retirement. On the 7th of May 2006 Zidane announced he would retire at the end of the season. Madrid finished the 2005/06 season trophy-less but Zidane finished as second in both Real Madrid's scoring and assists charts for the season. Zidane also scored his first ever hat trick of his career against Sevilla in a 4-2 win in January of 2006. Zidane's final game at home for Madrid was against Villareal where they drew 3-3. Zidane scored in this game when the Real Madrid team all wore 'Zidane 2001-06' on their shirts to commemorate this legend of the game.

Whilst Zidane was a player of the highest ability at club level I must not forget to mention his international career where he also made his name. Zidane's first cap for France was in a friendly, in 1994, as he came on when France were losing a game 2-0 to the Czech Republic. Zidane scored his first and second goals for France on this day as he inspired the French comeback in the game which they drew 2-2. In the 1998 World Cup in France, Zidane made his first appearance in a World Cup. Zidane got sent off in the 2nd game against Saudi Arabia for a stamp but even without Zidane, France continued to win all three group games. In the last 16 game against Paraguay, France won 1-0. France made the quarter finals, where Zidane returned from suspension and where they played Italy. After 120 minutes the game was 0-0, so the game went to penalties. France scraped past the Italians 4-3 on penalties and faced Croatia in the Semi Finals who they beat 2-1. In the final Zidane scored his first goal of the tournament with a header from a corner against a highly tipped Brazilian side. Zidane added another header to make it 2-0 and when Petit rounded off a 3-0 win with a late goal, Zidane had won his first major international competition.


In 2000 France became the first team to hold the World Cup and the European Championships at the same time since West Germany in 1974. Zidane's free kick against Spain in the quarter final was the pick of the French goals in this tournament but Zidane scored a key goal in the semi final to book the French their place in the final as he scored the 'Golden Goal' against Portugal. The Player of the Tournament only actually scored these two goals in this competition but was key in his 'Trequartista' role for France. Zidane missed the opening 2 games to the 2002 World Cup and when France were in danger of an early exit Zidane was rushed back from injury. Not fully fit, it was clear to us that the French were over- dependent on this national hero for their goals and when Zidane didn't play very well the holders of the World Cup were embarrassed and exited the Competition in the Group Stage. In 2004 a stoppage time 2-1 win against England inspired by a late penalty and a magnificent late free kick from the 'Mighty Zidane' left England who were leading 1-0 shocked by this man's brilliance. Another win against Switzerland allowed France to progress top of the group but in one of the tournament's greatest shocks the French were knocked out by the eventual winners of the tournament, Greece. Following this Zidane was one of many key Frenchmen to retire from international football.



Zidane returned from retirement and got the captaincy once again. His first competitive match back was a 3-0 win against the Faroe Islands. Zidane who became the 4th Frenchman to get 100 caps helped France recover what looked like an awful qualifying campaign to bring them through to the 2006 World Cup. France were poor in the groups but scraped out after Zidane was once again suspended for the 3rd group game. In the second round France faced Spain and Zidane scored and assisted a Vieira goal in this game. Next was Brazil for France where Zidane received Man Of The Match in a completely dominant display from the French. Henry scored the goal which Zidane set up to help him on the way to this Man Of The Match Award. In the Semi Final against Portugal a Zidane penalty was the decider as France reached the final against the well organised Italians. Having announced his retirement from football prior to the tournament we knew this was it: The final time we would all see the legend that was, Zinedine Zidane. What a way to leave this could be, should the French beat the Italians. Zidane became the 4th player to score in 2 different World Cup finals when he finished a penalty off early on in this game and this was looking to be going the way everybody hoped Zidane would finish his career. He also now had the joint most goals in World Cup finals having got 3. When the game went to Extra Time it was Zidane who had the French's best chance in the game when his header was saved by what looked like an 'Unbeatable' Buffon. On the 110th minute an Off The Ball incident occured with Zidane and Materazzi. Zidane was once again sent off for headbutting an opposition player. Much to the disappointment of those, like me, who loved Zidane, this was to be the last thing he ever did in a competitive football match. This red card went on to cost France the final as the Italians went on to win the game 5-3 on penalties. This was a dark end to the brightest career of my generation so far.






Whilst it must be admitted by every single one of us that Zidane's temper was awful poor and often cost him playing part in some of the biggest moments in his nation's history, I am of the opinion that Zidane is one player who we may never see the likes of again. His drive, leadership, passing, dribbling, shooting and composure on the biggest stages of them all are some of the things which made Zidane one of my favourite players of all time. For me personally, I have Zinedine Zidane to thank for giving me such a strong love in football as he was a joy to watch for every single person worldwide.