Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane is a former professional football player and team manager. Better known as ‘Zizou’, he played for Real Madrid, Juventus, Cannes, and Bordeaux. In 2004, he was named to the FIFA 100. In 2006, he receive France’s National Order of Merit. Zizou has also received a number of personal awards including being named the FIFA World Player of the Year there times. In 1998, he also received the Ballon d’Or Award.

Player Profile, Personal Life, and Youth Career

Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on June 23, 1972, in Marseille, France. He is of Muslim and Algerian descent. His mother was a housewife and his father was a night watchman. He had a strict upbringing, which he would later credit as a ‘guiding light’ for his career.

Zizou started playing football when he was five years old. He would later name Blaž Slišković, Enzo Francescoli, and Jean-Pierre Papin as three of his football idols growing up. At age 10, he got his playing license. Teams he played for in his youth career include AS Foresta, US Saint-Henri, SO Septemes-Les-Vallons, and Cannes.

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Position	Midfielder
Height / weight	1.85 m / 78 kg
Born	13 May 1998
Nationality	France
Nickname	Zizou
Number	30

Team History
Real Madrid	2001 - 2006
Juventus	1996 - 2001
Bordeaux	1992 - 1996
AS Cannes	1989 - 1992

Professional Career

He started his professional career playing for Cannes in 1989. As a young player, his coaches noted that Zizou had a tendency to attack spectators who attacked his race and his family. This is something that would come to a head at the FIFA World Cup decades later.

After making 61 appearances for Cannes, he moved to play for Bordeaux and stayed with the team from 1992 to 1996. He later joined Juventus and played for the club from 1996 to 2001. In 2001, he joined Real Madrid. Throughout his professional career, he made 506 appearances and scored 95 goals, 37 of which, he made while playing for Madrid.

Zidane also represented France internationally and played in 108 matches as a senior player, scoring 31 goals.

After he retired in 2006, following his appearance at that year’s FIFA World Cup, he took some time off, and in 2013, he was hired by Real as an assistant coach. From 2014 to 2016, he coached Read Madrid B before taking on the coaching helm at Real Madrid from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2021.

Throughout his career, he would receive a number of personal awards and accolades including being named the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000, and 2003. In 1998, he also won the Ballon d’Or award. In 2006, at the FIFA World Cup Final, he is perhaps best remembered for head-butting Marco Materazzi after the German player allegedly made racist comments against Zidane.

Career Highlights:

1993–94 - French Division 1 YoungPlayer of the Year
1995–96 - French Division 1 Playerof the Year
1996–97, 2000–01 - Serie A ForeignFootballer of the Year
1997 - Ballon d’Or: Bronze
1997, 2002 - FIFA World Player ofthe Year: Bronze Award
1997, 2002, 2003 - Onze d’Argent
1997, 1998, 2000, 2002 - FIFA XI
1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 -ESM Team of the Year
1998 - UEFA Club Midfielder of theYear
1998 - L’Équipe InternationalChampion of Champions
1998 - L’Équipe France Champion ofChampions
1998, 2006 - FIFA World Cup All-Starteam
1998 - World Soccer Awards Player ofthe Year
1998 - France Football French Playerof the Year
1998, 2000, 2001 - Onze d’Or
1998 - Ballon d’Or
1998, 2000, 2003 - FIFA World Playerof the Year
1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 - El PaísEuropean Player of the Year
1999 - Onze de Bronze
1999 - World Soccer’s Selection ofthe 100 Greatest Footballers of the20th century
2000 - 2nd French Player of theCentury (France Football)
2000 - Ballon d’Or: Silver
2000 - UEFA European ChampionshipPlayer of the Tournament
2000, 2004 - UEFA EuropeanChampionship Team of the Tournament
2000–01 - Serie A top assistprovider
2000–01 - Serie A Footballer of theYear
2001, 2002, 2003 - UEFA Team of theYear
2001–02 - Don Balón Award
2001–02 - La Liga Best ForeignPlayer
2002 - UEFA Club Footballer of theYear
2002 - FIFA World Cup Dream Team
2004 - FIFA 100
2004 - UEFA Best European Player ofthe Past 50 Years
2005, 2006 - FIFA FIFPro World XI
2006 - IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker
2006 - FIFA World Cup Golden Ball
2006 - FIFA World Player of theYear: Silver Award
2007 - UNFP Honorary Award
2007 - AFS Top-100 Players of AllTime #5
2008 - Marca Leyenda Award
2008 - Golden Foot Legends Award
2009 - ESPN Team of the Decade
2009 - ESPN Player of the Decade
2009 - Fox Sports Player of theDecade
2009 - Sports Illustrated Team ofthe Decade
2009 - Sports Illustrated Player ofthe Decade
2010 - Don Balón Team of the Decade
2010 - Don Balón Player of theDecade
2011 - Laureus Lifetime AchievementAward
2011 - UEFA team of teams
2011 - UEFA Champions League BestPlayer of the Past 20 Years
2012 - Real Madrid’s Greatest XI ofAll Time
2013 - World Soccer Greatest XI ofAll Time
2014 - Real Madrid Hall of Fame
2015 - UEFA Ultimate Team of theYear (substitute)
2016 - IFFHS Legends
2016 - UEFA European ChampionshipAll-Time XI
2017 - Juventus Greatest XI of AllTime
2018 - L’Équipe Best French Playerof All Time
2020 - Ballon d’Or Dream Team(Silver)
2021 - IFFHS All-time Men’s B DreamTeam
2021 - IFFHS All-time Europe Men’sDream Team
2022 - FourFourTwo’s 100 bestfootball players of all time #5