# Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Zidane is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers in history, a three-time FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or winner. He led France to the 1998 FIFA World Cup title and the Euro 2000 championship, and won the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid in 2002. As a manager he guided Real Madrid to three consecutive Champions League titles (2016–2018), an unprecedented feat in the modern era. ## Quick Facts - **Born:** June 23, 1972 - **Birthplace:** Marseille, France - **Nationality:** French - **Occupation:** Soccer / Midfielder - **Category:** Athletes - **Net Worth:** $100M (est. 2024) - **Also Known As:** Zizou, ZZ ## Early life and career La Castellane, in the northwestern edge of Marseille, where Zidane was born in 1972 La Corniche, a seaside roadway along the coast of Marseille, with a mural of Zidane on the wall Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on 23 June 1972 in La Castellane, a neighbourhood in the 16th arrondissement of Marseille, in Southern France. He is the youngest of five siblings born to Algerian parents Smaïl and Malika, who had immigrated to Paris from the village of Aguemoune in the Berber-speaking region of Kabylia in 1953, before the start of the Algerian War. The family, which had settled in the city's tough northern districts of Barbès and Saint-Denis, found little work in the region, and in the mid-1960s moved to the northern Marseille suburb of La Castellane. In an interview with Esquire magazine, he stated: "}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwdQ">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}I have an affinity with the Arabic world. I have it in my blood, via my parents. I'm very proud of being French, but also very proud of having these roots and this diversity. His father worked as a warehouseman and security guard at a department store, often on the night shift, while his mother was a housewife. The family lived a reasonably comfortable life by the standards of the neighbourhood, which was notorious throughout Marseille for its high crime and unemployment rates. Zidane credits his strict upbringing and his father as the "guiding light" in his career. It was in Castellane where Zidane had his earliest introduction in football, joining in at the age of five in football games that the neighbourhood's children played on the Place Tartane, an 80-by-12-yard plaza that served as the main square of the housing complex. In July 2011, Zidane named former Marseille players Blaž Slišković, Enzo Francescoli and Jean-Pierre Papin as his idols while growing up. At the age of ten, Zidane got his first player's licence after joining the junior team of a local club from Castellane by the name of US Saint-Henri. After spending a year and a half at US Saint-Henri, Zidane joined SO Septèmes-les-Vallons when the Septèmes coach Robert Centenero convinced the club's Director to get Zidane. Zidane stayed with Septèmes until the age of 14, at which time he was selected to attend a three-day training camp at the CREPS (Regional Centre for Sports and Physical Education) in Aix-en-Provence, one of several such footballing institutes run by the French Football Federation. It was here that Zidane was spotted by AS Cannes scout and former player Jean Varraud, who recommended him to the training centre director of the club. As a 14-year-old watching the 1986 World Cup, the performance of Diego Maradona left an indelible mark on him, with Zidane stating Maradona "was on another level". ## Club career Cannes [https://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/players-coaches/people=163331/profile.html \"French heir who became king\"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622111519/https://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/players-coaches/people=163331/profile.html |date=22 June 2018 }}. FIFA.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013."}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwtA">.mw-parser-output .quotebox{background-color:#F9F9F9;border:1px solid #aaa;box-sizing:border-box;padding:10px;font-size:88%;max-width:100%}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft{margin:.5em 1.4em .8em 0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright{margin:.5em 0 .8em 1.4em}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.centered{overflow:hidden;position:relative;margin:.5em auto .8em auto}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft span,.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright span{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox>blockquote{margin:0;padding:0;border-left:0;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-title{text-align:center;font-size:110%;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote>:first-child{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote:last-child>:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:before{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" “ ";vertical-align:-45%;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:after{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" ” ";line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .left-aligned{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .right-aligned{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .center-aligned{text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quote-title,.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quotebox-quote{display:block}.mw-parser-output .quotebox cite{display:block;font-style:normal}@media screen and (max-width:640px){.mw-parser-output .quotebox{width:100%!important;margin:0 0 .8em!important;float:none!important}} "He'd go past one, two, three, five, six players – it was sublime. His feet spoke with the ball" —Jean Varraud, former player who discovered Zidane. Zidane went to Cannes for a six-week stay, but ended up remaining at the club for four years to play at the professional level. Having left his family to join Cannes, he was invited by Cannes Director Jean-Claude Elineau to leave the dormitory he shared with 20 other trainees and to come and stay with him and his family. Zidane later said that, while living with the Elineaus, he found equilibrium. It was at Cannes where Zidane's first coaches noticed that he was raw and sensitive, prone to attack spectators who insulted his race or family. His first coach, Jean Varraud, encouraged him to channel his anger and focus on his own game. Zidane spent his first weeks at Cannes mainly on cleaning duty as a punishment for punching an opponent who mocked his ghetto origins. The occasional violence that he would display throughout his career was shaped by an internal conflict of being an A ## International career Both France and Algeria consider Zidane a citizen. It was rumoured that coach Abdelhamid Kermali denied Zidane a position for the Algerian squad because he felt the young midfielder was not fast enough. Zidane dismissed the rumour in a 2005 interview, saying that he would have been ineligible to play for Algeria because he had already played for France. Zidane was a member of the French under-21 squad that won a bronze medal at the 1993 Mediterranean Games in Languedoc-Roussillon. He earned his first cap with France as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 17 August 1994, which ended in a 2–2 draw after Zidane scored twice to help France erase a 2–0 deficit. After Eric Cantona was handed a year-long suspension in January 1995 for assaulting a fan, Zidane took over the playmaker position. Euro 1996 Despite not being at his best during the tournament, France reached the last four. Zidane was not yet fully established in the French team and his level was quite average during the whole event, but he managed to score in the penalty shootout in both the quarter-final and semi-final. France was eliminated in the Euro 96 semi-finals in a penalty shootout against the Czech Republic. 1998 World Cup Following France's World Cup win, an image of Zidane was projected on the Arc de Triomphe (pictured) along with the words "Merci Zizou". The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the first World Cup that Zidane participated in; the tournament was held in his home country, France. The French team won all three games in the group stage, with Zidane setting up Christophe Dugarry's goal in the opening match against South Africa from a corner, and contributing to Thierry Henry's opening goal in the second match against Saudi Arabia. He was sent off in the latter match for a stamp on Fuad Anwar, becoming the first French player to receive a red card in a World Cup Finals match. Without their playmaker, France proceeded to win 1–0 in the round of sixteen game against Paraguay and, on his return to the side, defeated Italy 4–3 on penalties after a goalless draw in the quarter-finals, with Zidane netting the first spot kick in the shoot-out. France then defeated Croatia 2–1 in the semi-final. Although Zidane had played a role in the team's accomplishments, he had yet to score a goal at the World Cup. Zidane and France went on to play against defending champions and favourites Brazil at the Stade de France in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final. France dominated Brazil from the kick-off, with Zidane scoring two similar goals, both headers from corner kicks taken by Emmanuel Petit and Youri Djorkaeff. Courtesy of Zidane's two goals, France went into the half-time break 2–0 up with one hand on the World Cup trophy. Petit added a third goal deep in stoppage time to seal the 3–0 win and France's first World Cup. Named man of the match, Zidane became an instant national hero and would receive the Legion of Honour later that year. More than one million people lined the Champs-Él ## Retirement Zidane playing a backheel during a game of futsal in 2008 Since his retirement, Zidane has regularly played for the Real Madrid Veterans team. He has also made several futsal appearances. In 2015 he played in a futsal tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, during which an opposition player received a yellow card to much amusement for taking an in-match selfie with Zidane. In an interview in June 2008, Zidane stated that he wanted to return to football, but that he had no immediate plans to do so. On 1 June 2009, Zidane was announced as the advisor to the president after Florentino Pérez was named president of Real Madrid for the second time. He, along with general director Jorge Valdano and sporting director Miguel Pardeza, were to be the key decisionmakers on the sporting side of the club. After France's dismal campaign in the 2010 World Cup, Zidane said that he did not plan to move into coaching any time soon. Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid committee announced in September 2010 that Zidane had been appointed as an ambassador for Qatar's attempt to host the 2022 World Cup. After FIFA announced on 2 December 2010 that Qatar had won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, Zidane stated that he was "very pleased" with the outcome. Zidane spoke of the message he was trying to convey in the campaign: "I was saying that football belonged to the whole world. I'm proud to have made my contribution to a new country getting the World Cup. Qatar and the entire Middle East as a whole deserves this event and that makes me happy. It's a victory for the Arab world." Zidane has supported two Olympic bids for Paris, including the 2012 Summer Olympics which was narrowly won by London and later Paris' successful bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Paris also hosted the 2024 Summer Paralympics. Philanthropy Zidane at the Danone Nations Cup, 2008. A football tournament involving 2.5 million children from over 11,000 clubs from around the globe, Zidane is its ambassador. On 24 February 2007, before a crowd of 10,000 fans at a match in northern Thailand for the Keuydaroon children's AIDS charity, Zidane scored the first goal and set up the second for a Malaysian teammate as the match ended 2–2. The event raised ฿260,000 ($7,750). This money paid for the building of two schools and 16 three-bedroom houses. On 19 November 2008, Zidane took part in the fifth annual Match Against Poverty in Málaga, Spain, which also ended in a 2–2 draw; he went scoreless but set up his team's second goal. He and Ronaldo, who collaborated in conceiving the yearly event to benefit the United Nations Development Programme, regularly captain their respective teams consisting of active footballers, other professional athletes and celebrities. Zidane, a UN Goodwill Ambassador since 2001, stated before the game that "everyone can do something to make the world a better place." Zidane in the Match Against Poverty in Bern, March 2014 In June and July 2009, Zidane toured across Canada with stops in Toron ## Coaching career Zidane in 2013. He was the Real Madrid assistant coach for the 2013–14 season. In November 2010, Zidane was appointed as a special adviser to Real Madrid's first team in response to an appeal made by then-Real Madrid coach José Mourinho for the former Real midfielder to work more closely with the team. In his new role, Zidane was expected to participate in Champions League events and functions and was also to travel with the first team on a regular basis and participate in pre-match gatherings, training sessions and meetings with the head coach. In July 2011, it was announced that he would become Real Madrid's new sporting director. In 2013, Zidane was appointed assistant coach to Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid. Real Madrid Castilla In June 2014, Real Madrid announced that Zidane would be the coach of Real Madrid's B team, Real Madrid Castilla. On 29 August, the director of the Spanish National Football Coach Education Centre (CENAFE), Miguel Galán, reported Zidane for acting as Real Madrid Castilla's head coach without the necessary coaching badges. According to Galán, "No one who has anything to do with the football world can be unaware that Zidane is acting as Real Madrid Castilla's head coach this season. It is a fait accompli that has been widely accepted, as shown by media reports, and Real Madrid do not deny it." While the official match report for Castilla's opening game in the Segunda División B lists Santiago Sánchez as the Los Blancos' head coach and Zidane as his assistant, Galán states, "This hierarchy only exists on paper. The truth is the exact opposite: Zidane is acting as Real Madrid Castilla's head coach, while, with all due respect to him as a colleague, Mr Sánchez's role basically boils down to providing the badges." Real Madrid Zidane (right) with Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos lifting the 2016 UEFA Champions League trophy On 4 January 2016, Real Madrid announced the dismissal of Rafael Benítez and on the same day Zidane was appointed the new head coach of the club on a two-and-a-half-year deal. His first match as the club's new manager took place five days later, when Real Madrid beat Deportivo La Coruña 5–0 in a La Liga match. In his first El Clásico as a coach, held on 2 April at the Camp Nou, Zidane led his club to a 2–1 win over Barcelona, ending Barça's 39-match unbeaten run. On 4 May, Zidane led Real Madrid to a place in the Champions League final by beating Manchester City 1–0 on aggregate. In La Liga, Madrid ended up finishing second, with 90 points and just one point behind champions Barcelona. On 28 May, Real Madrid's eleventh Champions League title was won after a 5–3 penalty shoot-out victory over Atlético Madrid, with the achievement being termed "La Undécima". Zidane became the seventh man to win the European Cup both as a player and a coach and the second man (after Miguel Muñoz) to achieve the feat with Real Madrid. He also became the first French coach, except the French-Argentinian Helenio Herrera, to win ## Timeline ### 1953 — He is the youngest of five siblings born to Algerian parents Smaïl and Malika,... He is the youngest of five siblings born to Algerian parents Smaïl and Malika, who had immigrated to Paris from the village of Aguemoune in the Berber-speaking region of Kabylia in 1953, before the start of the Algerian War ### 1972 — Born in Marseille Zinedine Yazid Zidane born in La Castellane, Marseille, France. ### 1972 — La Castellane, in the northwestern edge of Marseille, where Zidane was born in... La Castellane, in the northwestern edge of Marseille, where Zidane was born in 1972 La Corniche, a seaside roadway along the coast of Marseille, with a mural of Zidane on the wall Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on 23 June 1972 in La Castellane, a neighbourhood in the 16th arrondissement of Marseille ### 1986 — As a 14-year-old watching the 1986 World Cup, the performance of Diego Maradona... As a 14-year-old watching the 1986 World Cup, the performance of Diego Maradona left an indelible mark on him, with Zidane stating Maradona "was on another level". ### 1993 — Zidane was a member of the French under-21 squad that won a bronze medal at the... Zidane was a member of the French under-21 squad that won a bronze medal at the 1993 Mediterranean Games in Languedoc-Roussillon ### 1994 — He earned his first cap with France as a substitute in a friendly against the... He earned his first cap with France as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 17 August 1994, which ended in a 2–2 draw after Zidane scored twice to help France erase a 2–0 deficit ### 1995 — After Eric Cantona was handed a year-long suspension in January 1995 for... After Eric Cantona was handed a year-long suspension in January 1995 for assaulting a fan, Zidane took over the playmaker position ### 1996 — Signs for Juventus Transfers to Juventus, establishing himself among the world's best. ### 1996 — Euro 1996 Despite not being at his best during the tournament, France reached... Euro 1996 Despite not being at his best during the tournament, France reached the last four ### 1998 — World Cup Champion Scores two headers as France beats Brazil 3-0 in the final. ### 1998 — 1998 World Cup Following France's World Cup win, an image of Zidane was... 1998 World Cup Following France's World Cup win, an image of Zidane was projected on the Arc de Triomphe (pictured) along with the words "Merci Zizou" ### 2000 — European Championship Wins Euro 2000 with France. Named player of the tournament. ### 2001 — Signs for Real Madrid Joins Real Madrid for a world record €77.5 million. ### 2002 — Champions League Volley Scores a stunning volley as Real Madrid wins the Champions League final 2-1. ### 2006 — World Cup Final & Headbutt Scores a Panenka penalty but is sent off for headbutting Materazzi. His last match. ### 2016 — Appointed Real Madrid Manager Becomes head coach of Real Madrid. ### 2018 — Three Consecutive UCL Titles Wins unprecedented third consecutive Champions League title as manager. --- Source: https://peoplebio.info/p/zinedine-zidane