Zinedine Zidane

Club career
Zidane is of algerian descent. His parents, Smail and Malika, emigrated from the village of Aguemone in the Kabylie region of Algeria in 1953, and settled in Paris, before moving to Marseille a few years later.

He joined the junior team of US Saint-Henri, a local club in the La Castellane district of Marseille. At the age of fourteen, he participated in the first-year junior selection for the league championship, where he caught the attention of AS Cannes scout Jean Varraud. He went to Cannes for a six-week stay, but ended up remaining at the club for four years to play at the professional level. Zidane played his first Ligue 1 match at seventeen, and scored his first goal on 8 February 1991, for which he received a car as a gift from the team president. His first season with Cannes culminated in a UEFA Cup berth.

Zidane transferred to FC Girondins de Bordeaux for the 1992–93 season, winning the 1995 Intertoto Cup and finishing runner-up in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup in four years with the club. He played a set of midfield combinations with Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, which would become the trademark of both Bordeaux and the 1998 French national team. In 1995, Blackburn Rovers coach Kenny Dalglish had expressed interest in signing both Zidane and Dugarry, to which team owner Jack Walker reportedly replied, "Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?"
In 1996, Zidane moved to Champions League winners Juventus F.C. for a fee of £3 million, and won the 1996–97 Scudetto and the Intercontinental Cup, but lost the 1997 UEFA Champions League final 3–1 to Borussia Dortmund. He netted seven goals in 32 matches to help Juventus retain the Scudetto the next season and make their second consecutive UEFA Champions League final appearance, losing 1-0 to Real Madrid which would be his next destination. Juventus were runners-up in 2000–01, but were eliminated in the group stage of the CL, during which Zidane was sent off for headbutting Hamburger SV player Jochen Kientz.

In 2001, Zidane joined Real Madrid for €66 million, the most expensive transfer fee in football history, and signed a four-year contract. He scored the match-winning goal in Madrid's 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final completing this personal quadruple. The next season, Zidane was named the FIFA World Player of the Year for the third time. In 2004, fans voted him atop UEFA's fiftieth-anniversary Golden Jubilee Poll, and he was included in the FIFA 100.

Despite scoring his first-ever hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Sevilla FC, Zidane's final season of club football ended trophyless. On 7 May 2006, Zidane, who had announced his plans to retire after the 2006 World Cup, played his last home match and scored in a 3-3 draw with Villarreal CF. The squad wore commemorative jerseys with "ZIDANE 2001–2006" below the club logo.





International career
Zidane holds dual citizenship in both France and Algeria, and therefore was eligible to play for the Algerian national team, but coach Abdelhamid Kermali allegedly denied him a position because he felt the young midfielder was not fast enough. Zidane dismissed the rumour in a 2005 interview, saying that playing for Algeria was out of the question since he had already suited up for France.

He earned his first cap with France as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 17 August 1994, which ended in a 2-2 draw after Zidane scored twice to help France erase a 2-0 deficit. After Eric Cantona was handed a year-long suspension in January 1995 for assaulting a fan, Zidane took over the playmaker position. France were eliminated in the Euro 1996 semifinals in a penalty shootout by the Czech Republic after the match ended 0-0 in extra time.

He won the 1998 World Cup with France, scoring twice in the final against defending champions Brazil.

Zidane finished with two goals as France won Euro 2000, becoming the first team to hold both the World Cup and the European Championship since West Germany in 1974. A thigh injury prevented Zidane from playing in France's first two matches in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He rushed back prematurely for the third game despite not being fully fit, but could not prevent France from being ignominiously eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single goal.

On 12 June 2004, after France were eliminated in the Euro 2004 quarterfinals by eventual winners Greece, Zidane retired from international football. With the mass retirement of veteran key players such as Bixente Lizarazu, Marcel Desailly and others, France struggled to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. However, at the urging of coach Raymond Domenech, Zidane came out of retirement and was immediately reinstated as team captain. He made his competitive return in a 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands on 3 September 2005, as France went on to win their qualifying group.

On 27 May 2006, Zidane earned his hundredth cap for France in a 1-0 friendly win over Mexico, becoming France's fourth player ever to reach this milestone, after Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps and Lilian Thuram. He was substituted early in the second half.




2006 World Cup
After being suspended on yellow cards from the final match of the group stage, Zidane set up a goal for Patrick Vieira and scored one himself in the 91st minute of the second round match against Spain. As France held Brazil to just one shot on goal in the rematch of the 1998 final, Zidane's free kick led to Thierry Henry's deciding goal, sealing a 1-0 win. Zidane was named Man of the Match by FIFA.

After scoring a seventh-minute penalty in the final, Zidane became 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 WC final goals apiece. However, he was sent off in the 110th minute with the match tied 1-1, and did not participate in the penalty shootout, which Italy won 5-3. Despite his red card and the controversy that followed, Zidane was nonetheless awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the competition.

Confrontation with Marco Materazzi
As Zidane and Italy defender Marco Materazzi were jogging up the pitch in close proximity of each other, they briefly exchanged words after Materazzi was seen tugging at Zidane's jersey before Zidane began to walk away from him. Moments later, Zidane suddenly stopped, turned around and rammed his head into Materazzi's chest, knocking him to the ground. Although play was halted, referee Horacio Elizondo did not appear to have seen the confrontation. According to match officials' reports, fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo informed Elizondo of the incident through his headset.

After consulting his assistants, Elizondo issued Zidane a red card in the 110th minute. It marked the fourteenth 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 WC final, in addition to being the first sent off in extra time.




Honours

Bordeaux
UEFA Intetoto Cup:1995
UEFA Cup: Runner-up:1996
Juventus
European Super Cup: 1996
Intercontinental Cup: 1996
Italian Super Cup: 1997
Serie A: 1996-97, 1997-98
UEFA Champions League: Runner-up 1996-97, 1997-98
UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1999
Real Madrid
UEFA Champions League: 2001-02
European Super Cup: 2002
Intercontinental Cup: 2002
La Liga: 2002-03
Spanish Super Cup: 2001, 2003
International
FIFA World Cup: 1998
UEFA European Championship: 2000
Individual
Ligue 1 Best Young Player - 1994
Ligue 1 Best Player - 1996
UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder - 1998
Ballon D'or - 1998
UEFA Euro Player of the Tournament - 2000
Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year - 1997, 2001
Serie A Footballer of the Year - 2001
Onze d'Or - 1998, 2000, 2001
French Player of the Year - 1998, 2002
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year - 2002
UEFA Team of the Year - 2001, 2002, 2003
FIFA World Player of the Year - 1998, 2000, 2003
UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll - 2004
FIFA 100
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament - 2000, 2004
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball - 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team - 1998, 2006
FIFPro World XI All-Star Team - 2005, 2006