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Zinedine Zidane Profile |
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Birth Date: June 23, 1972
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Birth Place: Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
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Birth Name: Zinédine Yazid Zidane
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Height: 6'1"
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Biography |
Zinedine Yazid Zidane is a former French football player of
Kabyle Algerian descent who has starred for both the French
national team and for four European club teams, most
recently Real Madrid.
Zidane received international attention with two headed
goals in the 1998 World Cup final against Brazil that
essentially won his country's first ever FIFA World Cup
title.
He has been elected FIFA World Player of the Year a
record-tying three times (1998, 2000, 2003) and has been
elected once as the European Footballer of the Year (1998).
In 2004, Zidane was included in the FIFA 100, a list of the
125 greatest living footballers (50 active, 75 retired), as
selected by Pelé to mark FIFA's centenary celebrations.
As announced on 25 April 2006, Zidane retired from
international football after the 2006 World Cup Final on 9
July 2006.
Zidane got his start in football at an early age when he
joined the junior team of US Saint-Henri, his local club in
the La Castellane district of Marseilles. He moved on to
Septemes Sports Olympiques after Saint-Henri's coach
convinced its director to sign him. After leaving Septemes
at the age of 14, Zidane participated in the first year
junior selection for the league championship. He was called
in for three days at the sport regional centre in
Aix-en-Provence, where Jean Varraud, AS Cannes' recruiter,
took notice of the French-Algerian player. Zidane ventured
off to Cannes for what was intended to be a six-week stay,
but he remained at the club for four years to play with
professionals. After spending four years with Bordeaux, he
was transferred to Italy's Juventus F.C. for a fee of £ 3
million.
At Juventus, he was one of the top players of Marcello
Lippi's team, along with countryman Didier Deschamps,
Alessandro Del Piero, and Edgar Davids. His team won two
Serie A titles and reached two consecutive UEFA Champions
League finals, in 1997 and 1998, losing both, the latter to
the Spanish club Real Madrid, the team for which he would
next play.
In 2001, Zidane was transferred from Juventus to Real Madrid
on a four-year contract. The transfer fee was € 66 million,
the highest in football history. His fellow Galacticos at
Madrid included David Beckham, Raúl González, Luís Figo,
Ronaldo, and Roberto Carlos. He scored a spectacular winning
goal in a 2-1 win over the German team Bayer Leverkusen in
the 2001-2002 Champions League final at Glasgow's Hampden
Park.
On 7 May 2006, Zidane played his last home game for Real
Madrid at the famous Santiago Bernabéu stadium. His
team-mates wore special jerseys that had ZIDANE 2001–2006
written on the bottom of the club logo. The Real Madrid fans
gave him a warm reception and kept cheering him throughout
the game. The opponent team was Villarreal CF and the game
ended in a 3-3 draw. He scored the second goal for Real
Madrid. After the game, Zidane swapped jerseys with Juan
Roman Riquelme, the Villarreal CF and Argentinian
midfielder. Zidane was given a massive ovation by
spectators, which left him in tears.
Zidane holds dual citizenship of both France and Algeria,
and therefore could have played for Algeria. However,
Algerian national coach Abdelhamid Kermali denied him a
position on the team, arguing that the young midfielder was
"not fast enough". Zidane earned his first cap with the
French national football team on 17 August 1994, coming on
as a substitute in the 63rd minute of a match against the
Czech Republic. France was behind 0-2 when Zidane came on
and subsequently scored two goals, to make the final score
2-2.
Zidane was a member of the French national football team in
the 1998 FIFA World Cup. During France's second match of the
first round, he received a red card and a two-game
suspension in a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia for stamping on
Saudi Arabia's team captain Fuad Amin. Reports from people
close to Zidane stated that Amin had provoked him verbally.
After scoring in the penalty shootout against Italy in the
quarter-final, he scored his only regular goals of the
tournament in the final against Brazil, leading his team to
a 3-0 victory, with France winning its first ever World Cup
championship. This was also the first time in 20 years that
the host country's team had won the tournament.
Two years later, at the Euro 2000 championship, he helped
his team reach the final with inspired play and important
goals, in quarter-finals against Spain — via direct free
kick — and a golden goal penalty against Portugal in the
semi-final. France went on to win the tournament, making it
the first team since 34 years to hold both the World Cup and
the European Cup. Subsequently, his team was ranked 1st in
the world.
Injuries prevented Zidane from performing at his best in the
2002 FIFA World Cup. France's attempt at defending their
title was unsuccessful. The team was eliminated in the first
round without scoring a single goal. Zidane rushed back from
his injury in time to play in France's last game, but could
not perform at his usual level.
On 12 August 2004, after France lost in Euro 2004 to the
eventual winners, the Greek national football team, Zidane
retired from international football.
However, after France experienced serious problems in
attempting to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Zidane
announced on 3 August 2005 that he was coming back to play
for France and was reinstated as captain of the national
team. He made his competitive return in the 3-0 FIFA World
Cup qualifier win against the Faroe Islands on 3 September
2005, and France went on to win their qualifying group.
On 25 April 2006, after an injury-plagued season at Real
Madrid, Zidane announced that he would retire from
professional football following the 2006 FIFA World Cup
finals in Germany.
On 27 May 2006, Zidane earned his 100th cap for France in a
1-0 victory over Mexico at the Stade de France in
Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris. It was his last match
in the stadium and he became only the fourth Frenchman after
Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps and Lilian Thuram to earn
a hundred national caps. He was substituted early in the
second half. |
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Other Information |
World and Europe Champion with French Soccer Team in July
1998 and July 2000
Player for Bordeaux (Fr), Juventus Turin (Ita) and now Real
Madrid (Sp)
National hero in France
Has four sons: Enzo (b. 1994), Luca (b. 1998), Théo (b. 18
May 2002) and Elyas (b. 26 December 2005).
Has his look-alike puppet in the French show "Guignols de
l'info, Les" (1988).
Best player in the world according to FIFA in 1998, 2000 and
2003. He also won the Golden Ball in 1998.
World Champion with France (1998), European Champion with
France (2000). Winner of the Intercontinental Cup (1996,
2002), the UEFA Champions League (2002), and the UEFA Super
Cup (1996, 2002).
Wife Veronique is a Spanish ex-dancer.
Comes from an Algerian family, born in a poor district of
the Mediterranean port of Marseille. He is involved in
charity work in France and North Africa.
Joined Real Madrid after his record $U66 million transfer
from Juventus in 2001.
Had hinted he would hang up his boots when his current
contract ended at the close of the 2004/5 season, but he
will remain at Real Madrid for an extra two years after
reaching an agreement to extend his contract until June
2007. [19 February 2004]
Is the captain of the French soccer team
French singer Pascal Obispo dedicated him his song
"Zinedine".
Is of Berber-Algerian (Kabiyle) descent.
Apart from playing for Italian club Juventus July 1996 -
July 2001 and Spanish club Real Madrid July 2001 - present,
he also played for French clubs AS Cannes 1988-1992 and
Bordeaux 1992-1996.
His fourth son, Elyaz, is born in December 2005.
On 26 April 2006 he officially announced his decision to
retire after the World Cup in Germany. He will continue to
live in Spain with his family.
Son Elyaz, born December 26, 2005.
Son Enzo, born March 24, 1995.
Son Luca, born May 13, 1998.
Son Théo, born May 18, 2002.
He received a red card and was sent off for head-butting an
opponent in extra time of the 2006 FIFA world cup final
against Italy, the game he announced would be his last
before retirement. He claimed to have been verbally
provoked.
Was awarded the Golden Ball for being voted best player of
the 2006 World Cup (10 July 2006). |
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