Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane, popularly known as Zizou, is a former French professional football player who played as an attacking midfielder. He recently coached Real Madrid and is one of the most successful coaches in the world. He also played for the clubs like Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid, and brought laurels for each of them. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Zidane was an elite playmaker renowned for his elegance, vision, passing, ball control, and technique. 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. He is decorated with Legion of Honour bestowed by French Government and National Order of Merit by Algerian Government for his remarkable career.

In 1989, Zidane earned his first professional contract by Cannes before establishing himself as one of the best players in the French Division 1 at Bordeaux. In 1996, he moved to Juventus where he won 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 unmatched for the next eight years. In Spain, Zidane won several trophies, including a La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League. In the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, he scored a left-foot volleyed winner which is considered to be one of the greatest goals in the competition's history. In 2004, he was declared as the best European footballer in the history of UEFA. Zidane started his international career in 1988 in U17 team of France. He continued to play in the junior national teams till 1994 and earned his first cap with France on August 17, 1994, in a friendly against Czech Republic. He became a celebrated national hero only after his two goals in the 3-2 victory in the 1998 FIFA World Cup against the then champions Brazil. He had extreme contributions in the France’s victory in the Euro Cup 2000 and was adjudged Player of the Tournament. Zidane was also the spine of France in FIFA World Cup 2002, 2006, and Euro 2004. He played his career’s last professional assignment with Real Madrid in 2006, against Villarreal. He scored in a 3-3 draw in his farewell match.

In June 2014, Zidane was made the coach of Real Madrid’s B team, Real Madrid Castilla, for a two-year tenure. In 2016, he was bestowed with more intense duty- managing Real Madrid. Under his regime, Madrid set a new record of 16 consecutive La-Liga victory. He also led the team in the 2016 and 2017 UEFA Championship, 2016 FIFA Club World Cup and 2017 UEFA Super Cup victory. He was awarded as the Best FIFA Men’s Coach in 2017. He shockingly resigned from his managerial position just days after the 2018 Champions League final, citing his belief that the club needed a cultural change. His time away from the sidelines was brief, however, as he returned to manage Real in March 2019 soon after the club had been eliminated from the Champions League tournament. The following year Real won another La Liga title.