Background

Zinedine Zidane was born on 23 June 1972 in La Castellane, Marseille, in Southern France. He was one of five children born to Smail and Malika Zidane, Algerian immigrants who came to France in 1953. The family lived in the La Castellane housing project, which is notorious throughout Marseille for its high crime rate. Zinedine Zidane's father had a steady job, as an overnight security guard in a department store, so they lived a reasonably comfortable life compared to many of their neighbors. Still, the family's apartment was so small that all seven of them could not sit down to eat at the same time.

Education

By the time he was five, Zidane was joining in the soccer games that the neighborhood's children play on the Place Tartane, an 80-by-12-yard plaza that serves as the main square of La Castellane. When he was a little older he began playing with a club, US Saint-Henri, in Marseille. His next step was the Septemes Sports Olympiques, where he began playing before the age of 11. Later, Zidane moved to the Septèmes-les-Vallons club. He played in it until he was fourteen. During this time, he was selected for a three-day training camp at the Regional Sports and Physical Education Center in Aix-en-Provence. Zinedine's father did not mind when one of the Cannes coaches wanted to take him to his youth football school. He promised his parents that Zinedine would live in good conditions and receive a good education, but the teenager did not particularly like his studies.

Career

At the age of 13, Zidane signed with the Cannes club team at the junior level. He made the elite squad at 17; at the age of 19, Zidane scored his first goal at that level and the club president fulfilled his promise to him - he gave Zidane a car, a red Clio.

In the early 1990s, Zidane signed with Bordeaux and his play there caught the attention of the elite Italian team Juventus of Turin. With Zidane in the fold, Juventus won five championships - including international events - in three years. In Turin, Zidane played for Marcello Lippi, who would later coach Italy to victory in the 2006 World Cup title match against Zidane's France. Back home, however, Zidane had trouble pleasing the French media, which called him le chat noir (the black cat). They accused him of playing poorly in consequential games, such as the Champions League, which features the top club teams throughout Europe. Zidane, though, remained popular in Marseille, where he would return during his breaks from soccer.

In his first international game, Zidane entered as a substitute and scored both goals as the French tied the Czech Republic, 2-2. France missed the World Cup final round in 1994, but was building for 1998, when it would host the quadrennial event for the first time in 60 years.

France breezed through the first round, defeating South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Denmark. Zidane, however, was suspended for two games for scraping his cleats against the back of Saudi captain Fuad Amin. He missed his country's one-goal victories over Denmark and Paraguay but returned to score a penalty kick during a shootout in which France outlasted Italy to reach the semifinals. The French edged Croatia 2-1 in the semis to reach their first-ever title match, against defending champion Brazil.

Zidane, normally a playmaker, became scorer in the final. He connected in the 27th and 46th minutes, both on picturesque headers. Emmanuel Petit fed him from the left corner on the first goal, and Youri Djorkaeff set him up from the right side on the second. Petit scored a breakaway goal near the end of the game to finish off Brazil. The victory on July 12 - two days before Bastille Day, the national holiday - set off bedlam in the Stade de France and the celebration spilled into the streets of Paris and other communities.

Two years later France won Euro 2000 and became the first team to hold both the World Cup and the European Championship since West Germany in 1974. Zinedine Zidane finished with two goals, a bending free kick against Spain in the quarterfinal and the golden goal in the semi-final against Portugal with a penalty.

In 2001, Zidane signed with Spanish club Real Madrid for a world-record transfer fee of more than $66 million.

Because of a thigh injury sustained in a warm up match before the tournament prevented Zidane from playing in France's first two matches at 2002 World Cup and without their talisman, the French team failed to score in either match. He was rushed back prematurely for the third game, but could not prevent France from being eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single goal.

At Euro 2004, France topped their group with wins over England and Switzerland, before being knocked out in the quarter finals by eventual champions Greece in a surprise 1-0 loss. In the opening match against England, Zidane scored a free kick and penalty in stoppage time to turn impending defeat into a 2-1 victory.

In 2006, Zidane declared that he would retire soon after the 2006 World Cup. However, his career came to a premature end in the finals when France advanced to the finals with Italy. His career ended when one of the opponents, Marco Materazzi, enraged him with his comments. In return, he slammed his head against the Italian's opponent's chest, leading to his automatic disqualification.

Since his retirement, Zidane has regularly played for the Real Madrid Veterans team. He has also made several futsal appearances. In 2011 Zidane joined Real Madrid's front office as an adviser and was named the club's sporting director. The next year, it was announced Zidane would begin coaching at Real Madrid's youth academy, and in 2014 he was named coach of the club's B team. In January 2016, Zidane took over as manager of Real Madrid's first team. In May 2018 he announced he was stepping down. However, Zidane was gone from the post for less than a year, as he returned to manage Real Madrid in March 2019.

Achievements

• 

  Zidane is widely known as one of the best footballers that have ever played this sport. He won the La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League. His left-foot volleyed winner in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final is considered to be one of the greatest goals in the competition's history. Zidane also won the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.
  
  Capped 108 times by France, Zidane won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice in the final and being named to the All-Star Team. He also won UEFA Euro 2000, being named Player of the Tournament. The World Cup triumph made him a national hero in France, and in 1998 he received the Legion of Honour. Zinedine also received the Golden Ball for the player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup. He became the fourth-most capped player in the history of France.
  
  Zidane received many awards as a player, including being named the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and winning the 1998 Ballon d'Or. He was Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 1996, Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2001, and La Liga Best Foreign Player in 2002. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players compiled by Pelé, and in the same year was named the best European footballer of the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll.
  
  Zinedine Zidane is one of eight players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d'Or. In his two and a half seasons with Madrid, Zidane won the UEFA Champions League an unprecedented three times consecutively, the La Liga title, the Supercopa de Espana, and the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup twice each. His success saw him named the Best FIFA Men's Coach in 2017.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Goal! The Dream Begins

    (A young immigrant dreams of playing soccer for a world cl...)

    2005

Religion

Zidane is a non-practicing Muslim. Despite this, he was named as one of the most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan that once observed Zidane's modest character as a factor that "has endeared him to a wider public." Zidane himself once revealed in a TV interview that when he played for Juventus, he read Ayat al-Kursi to himself before each game. In his opinion, non-practising doesn't mean non-believing.

Politics

After the World Cup in 1998, Zidane's racial origins were insulted by several members of the anti-immigrantion National Front party. Zinedine has denounced the party publicly. He said: "Think - and I stress my words - about the consequences of voting for a party that does not at all correspond to the values of France."

Views

Zidane always takes part in charity activities. He played in a charity match in Thailand that raised $7750 for a children AIDS charity called Keuydaroon. In 2008, Zidane took part in the Match Against Poverty - a friendly match held to raise funds for the United Nations Development Program.

Zinedine has also been a UN Goodwill Ambassador since 2001. In 2010, he played for the Rest of the World Team in Soccer Aid which is a British charity event to raise funds for UNICEF. Zidane took part in another charity match in 2013 against Real Madrid as a member of Manchester United Legends Team to raise funds for the Manchester United Foundation projects helping disadvantaged young people in Manchester.

Quotations: "Sometimes I don't know what takes me over during a game. Sometimes I just feel I have moved to a different place and I can make the pass, score the goal or go past my marker at will."

"It was my father who taught us that an immigrant must work twice as hard as anybody else, that he must never give up."

"I was lucky to come from a difficult area. It teaches you not just about football but also life. There were lots of kids from different races and poor families. People had to struggle to get through the day. Music was important. Football was the easy part."

"It's hard to explain but I have a need to play intensely every day, to fight every match hard. And this desire never to stop fighting is something else I learnt in the place where I grew up."

Personality

Zinedine is a national hero in France.

It is important to mention that Zidane was Christian Dior's first male model.

Zidane's complete name is Zinedine Yazid Zidane. Yazid means the one who increases and Zidane is actually Zaydan in Arabic which means overabundant twice. So, Zinedine Zidane means the beautiful one of the path, the one who increases, and the one who is overabundant twice.

Zinedine Zidane is the fifth highest-paid football manager in the world with a monthly salary of €1.4 million. He is a record holder in terms of the most number of cards received in the World Cup history. Zidane received 6 cards in total during his World Cup appearances. His elegance, swiftness and exceptional ball control made him probably the best football player of his time.

Physical Characteristics: Zinedine Zidane is 185 cm (6 ft ¾ in) tall and weighs 79 kg (176 lbs). So, he's a slim type. Zidane is bald and has green eyes.

Quotes from others about the person

• Pelé: "Zidane is the master. Over the past 10 years, there's been no-one like him, he has been the best player in the world."
  
  Alfredo Di Stefano: "He dominates the ball, he is a walking spectacle and he plays as if he had silk gloves on each foot. He reminds me a bit of myself, although I was a bit quicker. He makes it worthwhile going to the stadium - he's one of the best I have ever seen."
  
  Franz Beckenbauer: "Zidane is one of the greatest players in history, a truly magnificent player."
  
  Franz Beckenbauer: "Zidane is unique. The ball flows with him. He is more like a dancer than a football player."
  
  Michel Platini: "Technically, I think he is the king of what's fundamental in the game - control and passing. I don't think anyone can match him when it comes to controlling or receiving the ball."
  
  Roberto Carlos: "He is the best player I've seen... Playing alongside him was a crazy thing! Supporters arrived earlier at the Bernabeu just to see him warm-up."
  
  Cesare Maldini: "I would give up five players to have Zidane in my squad."
  
  Zlatan Ibrahimovic: "Zidane was from another planet. When Zidane stepped onto the pitch, the 10 other guys just got suddenly better. It is that simple."

Interests

• bicycles

• Sport & Clubs

  judo, skateboarding

• Athletes

  Blaž Slišković, Enzo Francescoli and Jean-Pierre Papin

Connections

Zidane married Véronique Fernández in 1994. The couple has four sons: Enzo Zidane Fernández, Luca Zidane Fernández, Theo Zidane Fernández and Elyaz Zidane Fernández.

Father:

Smaïl Zidane

Mother:

Malika Zidane

Son:

Enzo Zidane Fernández

(born 24 March 1995)

Enzo Alan Zidane Fernández is a French footballer who plays for Portuguese club C.D. Aves as a midfielder.

Wife:

Véronique Fernandez

Véronique Zidane is a former dancer and model.

Son:

Luca Zidane

(born 13 May 1998)

Luca Zinedine Zidane is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

Son:

Theo Zidane Fernández

(born 18 May 2002)

Son:

Elyaz Zidane Fernández

(born 26 December 2005)

Friend:

Pep Guardiola

(born 18 January 1971)

Pep Guardiola is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.

Friend:

David Beckham

References

• Zizou: I Am Great Zinedine Zidane, popularly known as "Zizou", is best known for his marvelous work in setting an epic record in the world of football. His dedication towards the game and ability to offer outstanding performances on the field helped him earn the title of a "special player" from Edgar Davids.
  2016
• Zidane One of modern football's most brilliant players - and one of its most iconic and mysterious figures - Zinedine Zidane's football career is the stuff of legend. A World Cup-winner with France, he became the world's most expensive player in 2001 when he moved from Juventus to Real Madrid for £46million, where his exceptional talent earned him a reputation as one of the greatest players of all-time. His playing career concluded explosively when he retired after being sent off for head-butting Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final.
  2006
• Zidane's Instagram