Fifa Recognise the Genius of Zizou
Monday 11th December 2000
Born and raised in Marseille, Zidane began his professional career at Cannes
as a teenager before joining Bordeaux.
A softly-spoken, modest figure off the field, Zidane put himself in the
international spotlight in 1994 when he scored two goals as a substitute on
his debut for France against the Czech Republic. It was the beginning of a
success story with the national team that has yet to reach its end.
Two years later, alongside the likes of Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe
Dugarry, he helped Bordeaux emerge from the fledgling Intertoto Cup to reach
the Uefa Cup final.
Although the French side lost to European giants Bayern Munich in the final,
Zidane had done enough to ensure himself a bright future.
Serie A beckoned and he moved to Turin shortly afterwards to join Juventus.
Scoring five goals in his first Serie A season alongside compatriot Didier
Deschamps, Zidane helped the club win the Italian title and reach the final
of the Champions' League, where they lost to Borussia Dortmund.
Zidane played an even more significant role the following season when his
seven goals helped Juventus to a second consecutive Serie A triumph.
Already a household name among European football watchers, Zidane went
global in 1998, spearheading France's charge to a first-ever World Cup
victory on home soil.
He scored twice in the final, both headers from corners, as France pulled
off a stunning 3-0 win over four-time champions Brazil.
The son of Algerian immigrants, Zidane's name was suddenly being chanted by
hundreds of thousands of people who had flooded onto the Champs-Elysees in
Paris in an outburst of national celebration. All over France, Zidane, or
'Zizou' as he's become known in his homeland, was being sung about and
choruses of 'Zizou for President' resounded from the world's most famous
avenue.
He won the World Player of the Year award for 1998, ending Ronaldo's
two-year run, and established himself as the key man in a France team
bursting with talent.
Two years later Zidane was again instrumental as France became the first
side to win the European Championships as holders of the World Cup.
Zidane was not a central figure in the final, when France beat Italy 2-1 in
extra-time thanks to David Trezeguet's golden goal, but his sublime touches
and deft ball skills in earlier games had the purists purring and Uefa named
him Player of the Tournament.
The remainder of the year, though, has been less glorious. Zidane attracted
all the wrong kind of attention in October when he was sent off for
head-butting Hamburg's Jochen Kientz in a Champions' League match, a
dismissal that raised his career red cards to ten.
He'd already been sent off against Deportivo La Coruna a few weeks earlier
and it brought to mind Zidane's red card for stamping on Saudi Arabia's Fuad
Amin in the 1998 World Cup finals. A genius he may be, but a flawed one at
that.
Critics cried that Michel Platini, his predecessor in the role of French
football's national hero, would never have done such a thing. Zidane was
setting a bad example, his aggression sending out a negative image to his
young fans.
Some would argue that that is reason enough not to win the World Player of
the Year Award. Luis Figo, in many ways, has been a better role model this
year. Rivaldo is rarely anything less than a gentleman on the pitch.
But they haven't won anything this year, and Zidane not only has, but did so
with the kind of extravagant skill that many thought had been lost to the
game forever.
