Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane
Zidane with Real Madrid in 2017
Personal information
Full name Zinedine Yazid Zidane[1]
Date of birth (1972-06-23) 23 June 1972 (age 52)[2]
Place of birth Marseille, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1981–1982 AS Foresta
1982–1983 US Saint-Henri
1983–1987 SO Septèmes-les-Vallons
1987–1989 Cannes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1992 Cannes 61 (6)
1992–1996 Bordeaux 139 (28)
1996–2001 Juventus 151 (24)
2001–2006 Real Madrid 155 (37)
Total 506 (95)
International career
1987–1988 France U16
1988–1989 France U17 4 (1)
1989–1990 France U18 6 (0)
1990–1994 France U21 20 (3)
1994–2006 France 108 (31)
Managerial career
2014–2016 Real Madrid B
2016–2018 Real Madrid
2019–2021 Real Madrid
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1998 France
Runner-up 2006 Germany
UEFA European Championship
Winner 2000 Belgium & Netherlands
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Zinedine Yazid Zidane (French: Zinédine Yazid Zidane;[4] Kabyle: Zineddin Lyazid Zidan; Arabic: زين الدين يزيد زيدان; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached La Liga club Real Madrid and is one of the most successful coaches in the world. 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.

Zidane started his career at Cannes, before establishing himself as one of the best players in the French Ligue 1 at Bordeaux. In 1996, he moved to Italian club Juventus, where he won several trophies, including two Serie A titles. He moved to Real Madrid for a world record fee at the time of €77.5 million in 2001, which remained a record for the next eight years. In Spain, Zidane won several trophies, including a La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League. In the 2002 Champions League final, he scored a left-foot volleyed winner that is considered one of the greatest goals in football history.

Capped 108 times by France, Zidane won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring a brace in the final, and was named in the All-Star team. This triumph made him a national hero in France and he received the Legion of Honour in 1998. He won UEFA Euro 2000 and was named Player of the Tournament. He also received the Golden Ball as Player of the Tournament at the 2006 World Cup, despite his infamous sending off in the final against Italy for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest. He retired as the fourth-most capped player in French history.

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. Zidane is one of nine players to have won the World Cup, the Champions League, and the Ballon d'Or. He was the ambassador for Qatar's successful bid to stage the 2022 World Cup, the first Arab country to host the tournament.

After retiring as a player, Zidane began his coaching career at Real Madrid Castilla. He remained in the position for two years, before managing the first team in 2016. In his initial three seasons, Zidane became the first coach to win the Champions League three times in a row. He also won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup twice each, as well as a La Liga title and a Supercopa de España. This success led to Zidane being named Best FIFA Men's Coach in 2017. He resigned in 2018, but returned to the club in 2019, and won another La Liga title and a Supercopa de España, before leaving again in 2021.

  1. ^ "Acta del Partido celebrado el 12 de mayo de 2019, en San Sebastián-Donostia" [Minutes of the Match held on 12 May 2019, in San Sebastián-Donostia] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Zinedine Zidane Profile". ESPN Soccernet. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011.
  3. ^ "Zinedine Zidane". Juventus F.C. Archived from the original on 13 June 2000.
  4. ^ "Zinédine Zidane". mondefootball.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.