Zinédine Yazid Zidane
Zinédine Yazid Zidane (born 23 June 1972 in Marseille, France), popularly nicknamed Zizou , is a former French football player of Amazigh Berber ethnicity, whose parents immigrated to France from Kabyle, Algeria. Zidane has starred for both the French national team and four European club teams, most recently Real Madrid.
In the 1998 World Cup final, Zidane attracted international attention with two headed goals against Brazil that won his country's first ever FIFA World Cup title. He contributed to his teams' victories in the Euro 2000, the UEFA Champions League, and domestic championships in Italy and Spain.
Zidane was elected FIFA World Player of the Year a record-equalling three times (1998, 2000, 2003) and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1998. The world-record fee of € 66 million for his transfer to Real Madrid in 2001 remains unequalled. In 2004, he topped the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll on Best European football player of the past 50 years, and was included in the FIFA 100, Pelé's list of the 125 greatest living footballers. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he played an inspiring role in his team's advancement to the final and was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, receiving the Golden Ball.
As announced on 25 April 2006,[2] Zidane retired from football after the 2006 World Cup Final on 9 July 2006.
Club career
Early career, Cannes and Bordeaux (1988–1996)
Zidane got his start in football at an early age when he joined the junior team of US Saint-Henri, his local club in the La Castellane district of Marseille. On the recommendation of Saint-Henri's coach, he was then signed by Septemes Sports Olympiques. At the age of 14, Zidane left Septemes and participated in the first year junior selection for the league championship, where Jean Varraud, AS Cannes' recruiter, took notice of him. Zidane went to Cannes for what was intended to be a six-week stay, but remained at the club for four years to play with professionals. Afterwards, Zidane spent four years with FC Girondins de Bordeaux, leading them to victory in the 1995 Intertoto Cup and to a 2nd place in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup tournament. In Bordeaux, he met Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, with whom he played a set of midfield combinations that would become the trademark of both Bordeaux and the 1998 French national team. In 1996, he was transferred to Italy's Juventus F.C. for a fee of £ 3 million.
