Zinedine zidane

Zidane is one of the greatest players in history, a truly magnificent player.

The French team has given me so much and I want to help it. I told myself I did not have much time left in soccer, and I want to profit from it to the maximum.

Scholes is undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation.

If Zizou kept his temper, he would not be the genius that he is

It's true, pressure is something that goes with football nowadays. You need to accept it, and everything that it involves - the good and the bad.

Obviously fashion is a completely different world from football.

It's only natural to want to select your best players and there is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own. He's almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play.

All of us at Juventus agreed Manchester United were the best side we met in the Champions League. They have so many talented young players and can only get better and better. Giggs is truly world class

I am first of all from La Castellane and Marseille.

I'm very inspired by him-it was my father who taught us that an immigrant must work twice as hard as anybody else, that he must never give up.

Mandela has played a crucial part in history. He's done some extraordinary things, not only for his country but also for the whole world.

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.

We were a family who had come from nothing and now we had respect from French people of all sorts.

We are well aware of the task ahead of us in what will be a very difficult match but which we all dream of playing.

I have decided to come back for Les Bleus.

Life is full of regrets, but it doesn't pay to look back.

The door can never be closed for good to any player.

I don't know if we are the best team in the world. I am lucky to be playing alongside some of the best players around. It's a dream.

I have never had the opportunity to play in England, so I know little about it.

Messi makes the difference most of the time. In particular, he is always going forwards. He never passes the ball backwards or sideways. He has only one idea, to run towards the goal.So as a football fan, just enjoy the show.

Music was important. Football was the easy part.

Football boots are very technical and have lots of specific requirements.

I have always said the French team is the most important thing that has happened to me. I thought deeply about it and I want to play for France again.

We must not let ourselves get driven off course, no matter what happens we must stick to our natural game.

Everything Iniesta does impresses me. He could even play as goalkeeper. He's magical.

Ronaldinho is a special player, but Thierry Henry is probably technically the most gifted footballer ever to play the beautiful game.

You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get. One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career.

Zidane was from another planet. When Zidane stepped onto the pitch, the 10 other guys just got suddenly better. It is that simple.

I have a need to play intensely every day, to fight every match hard.

In France, everybody realized that God exists, and that he is back in the French international team. God is back, there is little left to say.

I am proud of where I come from and I will never forget the people I grew up with.

Nobody knows if Zidane is an angel or demon. He smiles like Saint Teresa and grimaces like a serial killer.

When your own fans whistle and jeer, then you have a big problem.

Messi is the Mozart of football.

Zidane is unique. The ball flows with him. He is more like a dancer than a football player.

Sometimes words are harder than blows.

Every day I think about where I come from and I am still proud to be who I am: first, a Kabyle from La Castellane, then an Algerian from Marseille, and then a Frenchman.

A Mediterranean city is really my culture.

You can't get bored of winning. You can win 10 games in a row but you keep the same will to snatch the 11th. You always need more.

It's the first time it's happened to me and maybe the last. It's a strange sensation, not normal for me. I can't remember scoring three goals, even when I was a kid.

The England team must always be respected. They always fight to the end.

It doesn't matter how many times you win an award, it is always very special.

If you are determined and confident, there is nothing in this great existence that can stop you from achieving what you want.

If Giggs was French, Pires or myself would have been on the bench.

To be recognised by a whole country is incredible. This is massive.

Ronaldinho is total class - a very, very great player. He is quick, powerful, and has extraordinary technical qualities. He is a dribbler but is also a player who can make the play for his teammates. He's not really a No.10, a true organizer. He's more a second attacker who can score goals and has the vision to make them.

My father is an Algerian, proud of who he is and I am proud that my father is Algerian.

My memories of events and games are fragmented.

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.

My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder.

Everything I have achieved in football is due to playing football in the streets with my friends

Zidane is probably the best player there has been in the past 20 years ... France have recovered the best Zidane and they have progressively grown throughout this tournament.

I am supposed to set an example to young players.

I may have had a lot of luck in my life, but I still need to find a challenge in the game.

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.

Real Madrid is the most important thing that happened to me, both as a footballer and as a person.

I love Madrid. I am happy to be here. I have been here three years and hope to be here longer. But I am proud of where I come from and never forget the people I grew up with.

I once cried because I had no shoes to play soccer, but one day, I met a man who had no feet.

I reached this level by sheer dint of hard work, toiling away at scores of tricks and experiments. I used to play with the ball from dawn till dusk and just kept practising. If I wasn't playing matches, it was trying out one on one or two against two with a tennis ball. Then I used to try aiming at certain targets. That's the only way to learn. And if I missed the target, I kept trying until I scored

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.

There was huge pressure, especially before the big games. Not many people believed in us, but we believed in ourselves. We wanted to do something good and we did.

The only important thing I have to say is that my father never fought against his country.

Author details

Zinedine Zidane: Biography and Life Work

Zinedine Zidane was a notable French professional football manager and former player. The story of Zinedine Zidane began on 23 June 1972 .

Zinedine Yazid Zidane ( French: ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou ( French: ), is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder . Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Zidane was a playmaker renowned for his elegance, vision, passing, and ball control. He received many individual accolades as a player, including being named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and winning the 1998 Ballon d'Or . He last coached La Liga club Real Madrid and is one of the most successful coaches in the world.

Philosophical Views and Reflections

Having already announced he was to retire after the expiration of his Real Madrid contract at the end of the 2005–06 season, the world of football already knew Zidane's second World Cup final was to be the last match of his career. Seven minutes into the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin, Zidane put France ahead with a Panenka -style penalty kick which struck the crossbar and bounced just over the goal line to become only the fourth player in World Cup history to score in two different finals, along with Pelé , Paul Breitner , and Vavá , in addition to being tied for first place with Vavá, Pelé and Geoff Hurst with three World Cup final goals apiece, a record at the time, later broken by compatriot Kylian Mbappé in 2022 . He almost scored a second goal during the first period of extra time but his header was saved by Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon . Zidane was then sent off in the 110th minute of the game after headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest, so he did not participate in the penalty shootout, which Italy won 5–3. This marked the 14th overall expulsion of Zidane's career, and joined him with Cameroon 's Rigobert Song as the only players ever to be sent off during two separate World Cup tournaments. He also became the fourth player red-carded in a World Cup final, in addition to being the first sent off in extra time. Zidane's actions made headlines all over the world, while in France Le Figaro called his head-butt "odious", and the front page of L'Équipe asked, "What should we tell our children, for whom you have become an example for ever? ... How could that happen to a man like you?" Zidane had received plaudits for his performances during the tournament, with Pep Guardiola writing he exerts so much influence on the team that "France are never disorganised". The day after the final, Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament.

At the age of 17, Zidane met his future wife, Véronique Fernández (born in Aveyron of Spanish descent), while playing for Cannes in the 1988–89 season. Married in 1994, they have four sons: Enzo Zidane (born 24 March 1995), Luca Zidane (born 13 May 1998), Théo Zidane (born 18 May 2002), and Elyaz Zidane (born 26 December 2005).

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