ZINEDINE ZIDANE

TEAMS PLAYED FOR
 
Real Madrid (Spain): 2001 - 2006
Juventus (Italy): 1996 - 2001
Bordeaux (France): 1992 - 1996
Cannes (France): 1987 - 1992

BIO

Zinedine “Zizou” Zidane (full name Zinedine Yazid Zidane) was born on June 23, 1972 in Marseille, France.  Zidane’s family is originally from Algeria.  His parents immigrated to France in 1953 and settled in Marseille.  Zidane is the youngest in the family of five children.     

CLUB CAREER

When Zinedine was a kid, school was not his strongest asset.  Instead he preferred to play soccer with his friends.  Eventually Zidane started playing for soccer teams from various districts of Marseille.  During one of the youth games, he was noticed by a scout from team Cannes and was invited for a trial.  One year later, Zizou makes his debut with the club's senior squad in the French First Division.  All together Zidane spent 4 years at the team scoring 6 goals and eventually being sold to Bordeaux in 1992.
After reaching the UEFA Cup final with Bordeaux, Zidane caught the attention of the Italian powerhouse, Juventus who signed him for 3 million euros.  At Juventus his talent and hard work started to pay off and the titles poured in.  During the five years spent in Torino, Zizou won every tournament played including Seria A, Italian Super Cup and European Cup. 
In 2001, Zidane was transferred to Real Madrid of Spain for 66 million euro, the world record at that time.  In the 2001/02 season, the Frenchman leads Real Madrid to Champions League glory by scoring a spectacular winning goal in the final.

NATIONAL TEAM CAREER

       

The first game for French National Team Zidane played in 1994 when he came out as a substitute in a friendly game against the Czech Republic.  France was losing 0:2 in that game but Zizou scored two goals to tie the game.  In his career, Zidane played in three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006) and three European Championships (1996, 2000, 2004), however the biggest success in his career came during 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship. 
During 1998 World Cup in France, Zizou was the leader of the team and scored two goals in the final against Brazil.  While playing and winning 2000 European Championship, Zidane was voted the best player of the tournament and was considered the best midfielder on the planet by many experts. 
2006 World Cup was very disappointing for the Frenchman.  He did not play well in the first two games of the group stage and earned a yellow card in each of them.  Having missed the third game of the group stage due to suspension, Zidane started playing well in the knock-out stages.  He scored the winning goal in the semi-final against Portugal and a penalty kick in the final against Italy.  With ten minutes to go in the overtime, Zidane was red carded for head butting Italian Marco Materazzi in the chest, following verbal taunts from the Italian player.  That was the last professional soccer game Zidane played in his career. 

PERSONAL INFO

Zinedine Zidane is married and has four sons.  He currently works for Real Madrid and is engaged in many charity projects.

       

TITLES AND AWARDS

Bordeaux

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1995

Juventus

Serie A: 1997, 1998

Italian Super Cup: 1997

European Super Cup: 1996

Intercontinental Cup: 1996

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1999

Real Madrid

La Liga: 2003

Spanish Super Cup: 2001, 2003

UEFA Champions League: 2002

European Super Cup: 2002

Intercontinental Cup: 2002

International

FIFA World Cup: 1998

UEFA European Championship: 2000

Ballon D’or: 1998

Onze D’or: 1998, 2000, 2001

FIFA World Player of the Year: 1998, 2000, 2003

FIFA 100