Zinedine Zidane

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Zinedine Yazid Zidane (Arabic: زين الدين زيدان) (born June 23, 1972, in Marseille, France), nicknamed Zizou, is a French football player for Real Madrid and France, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the world. He is a Muslim of Algerian Kabyle Berber ethnic origin. Through his status as a prominent Frenchman of Maghrebi descent, he promotes racial and religious tolerance, especially among the young and in his personal life. His wife, Veronique, a former dancer and model, is of Christian origin, a Frenchwoman of Spanish ancestry; married in 1993, they have four sons named Enzo, Luca, Théo and Elyas.

Zidane is often considered to be one of the best footballers in the world still playing, and certainly among the most talented. Zidane's dribbling of the ball and passing ability as a midfielder has earned him the nickname of 'genius' and 'magician' by the world's sport media (Luis Omar Tapia from ESPN calls him 'Harry Potter'[1] in reverence of his 'magical' abilities). Zidane's well-maintained balance makes him one of the game's finest players and the natural successor to France's Michel Platini.

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Career

Though born in Marseille, Zidane has never played for them, so it was rumored that he might want to finish his career there. Zidane has now declared that he will end his career after the Template:Wc in Germany, one year before his contract with Madrid runs out. His time in the French league was spent with Bordeaux, before he was snapped up by Juventus for £3 million. Zidane was a member of the French football team in Template:Wc, which France won, scoring two headed goals in the final against Brazil. Two years later, he led his country to a second major championship, winning Template:Ec2. He has been elected three times as FIFA World Player of the Year (1998, 2000, 2003).

In 2001 Zidane transferred from Italian team Juventus to Spanish club side Real Madrid on a four-year contract. The transfer fee was £47 million (approx. $81 million US, €66million), making him the most expensive player in football history. While Zidane initially took a while to settle in among his fellow 'Galacticos' at Madrid like Raúl González, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos, he was undoubtedly the biggest name of the lot by reputation alone, and as the season progressed his form just got better, culminating in him helping Madrid and scoring the winning goal with a fantastic volley in a 2-1 win over the German team Bayer Leverkusen in the 2001-2002 Champions League Final in Glasgow's Hampden Park.

Injuries prevented him from performing at his best in the Template:Wc. France's defence of their trophy was one of the most unsuccessful in World Cup history; the team was eliminated in the First Round without scoring a single goal. Without Zidane's creativity and vision France looked lost. Zidane rushed back from his injury in time to play in France's last game, but to anyone who had ever previously watched him perform, it was apparent that he was just not himself.

On August 12, 2004, after the Template:Ec2 display of France, the team getting knocked out in the quarter-final by eventual winners Greece, Zidane retired from international football. He announced on February 4 2005 that he would retire from the game at the end of his current contract with Real Madrid, at the end of the 2006/07 season.

After France experienced serious problems in attempting to qualify for the Template:Wc, Zidane announced on August 3, 2005 to come out of international retirement to make a comeback for Les Bleus. He stated on his official website: "I have gone back on my decision, one year after I said it was categorical." On the same day French teammate and Chelsea midfielder Claude Makélélé, who also quit the French team following Template:Ec2, said he wanted to come out of international retirement as well. The same week, Lilian Thuram announced he would come back as well. The trio made their competitive return in the 3-0 Template:Wc qualifier win against the Faroe Islands on September 3rd, and France would go on to win their qualifying group.

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Legacy

Zidane is one of the football icons of his generation and is known to be modest, quiet and self-admittedly shy. As a Guardian feature article says, however, Zidane has also occasional flashes of aggression on the pitch. Such a display of aggression, Zidane showed when he was red carded for headbutting Jochen Kientz in a 2000/2001 Champions League match for Juventus against Hamburger SV.

In 2004, Zidane was named to the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. In 2004, he was also voted the best European player for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll.

In the final stages of his career, many pundits and fans alike already identify him as the most important player of his generation and his name is regularly mentioned alongside former greats such as Di Stéfano, Pele, Cruyff and Maradona.

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Honours

With the French national team:

With Juventus:

With Real Madrid:

Personal honours:

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Other facts

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Merchandising

Zidane was sponsored by LEGO for a while and wore their logo. He was the official endorser of their Soccer/Football line (name varied to "correct" one depending on the country it was being marketed in), and was also immortalised in plastic in the form of a LEGO minifigure of himself, available in several of the sets.

Zidane is also sponsored by Adidas, who supplies Zidane with the Predator boots and gear.

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External links

br:Zinedine Zidane bg:Зинедин Зидан cs:Zinedine Zidane da:Zinedine Zidane de:Zinedine Zidane et:Zinedine Zidane es:Zinedine Zidane fo:Zinadine Zidane fr:Zinedine Zidane gl:Zinedine Zidane ko:지네딘 지단 id:Zinedine Zidane it:Zinédine Zidane he:זינדין זידאן nl:Zinedine Zidane ja:ジネディーヌ・ジダン no:Zinedine Zidane pl:Zinedine Zidane pt:Zinedine Zidane ru:Зидан, Зинедин fi:Zinédine Zidane sv:Zinedine Zidane vi:Zinédine Zidane tr:Zinédine Zidane zh:齐内丁·齐达内

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