Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on June 23, 1972 in La Castellane, Marseille, in the south of France. He is considered the youngest son among 5 siblings. He is of Algerian origins. His parents, Ismail and Malika, immigrated to Paris in 1953.

Zidane played his first professional match with Cannes on May 18, 1989 in a French League match against Nantes, and scored his first goal for the club on February 10, 1991 also against Nantes.

Zidane said, in statements reported by Gianluca Di Marzio, a journalist at Sky Sports: “Like all children, I learned to love football in the streets 45 years ago in Marseille. I always played with the ball and was passionate about it. I was a Marseille fan. My parents are from Algeria and moved to France to work, but life was difficult at that time. I am happy with my children because they are good people and this is the most important thing for me.” for me”.

Zizou moved from Cannes to Bordeaux in the 1992-1993 season, and after his talent exploded further with Bordeaux, he moved to Juventus, the Italian record champion, in the spring of 1996 and in 2001.

Regarding his time as a player in Juventus, he said: “The years there were wonderful. I came from France where football was great, but not like in Juventus. In Turin, I felt that all you had to do was always win, whether at home or away.”

He continued: “What stuck in my mind most about Andrea Agnelli (former Juventus president) is that when I was playing well, he would call me at six in the morning to congratulate me. He was a gentleman. It was clear that he was a Juventus fan.”

Regarding Juventus legend, Alessandro Del Piero, he said: “He was wonderful and one of the best players in Italy. I was lucky to play with him and many other players for four or five years. We had a really good team, but Del Piero was special.”

Regarding Juventus’ absence from winning the Champions League: “It is difficult for Juventus to win the Champions League. We reached the final twice and lost, and I do not know why. It also depends on the club and what it wants. To win the Champions League you need a lot.”

Regarding his retirement from football in 2006, he said: “Retirement was what I wanted to do. What I no longer like is travel and hotels and everything related to them. When you are twenty years old it is good, but when you get older it becomes difficult. I could have played for two or three more years.”

The legend Zain joined the ranks of Real Madrid in the most expensive deal in the history of football at the time, with a record amount of 77.5 million euros, with a contract extended for the next 4 seasons, that is, until 2005, after which he coached the royal team in two terms.

Zidane led Real Madrid as coach for two periods, and achieved tremendous successes, including winning the Champions League three times and the Spanish League twice at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Zidane played 108 matches for the French national team, and led them to win the 1998 World Cup, by scoring two goals in the final against Brazil. He also led them to win the 2000 European Championship, and won the best player award in the tournament.

Zizou won the Golden Ball for the best player in the world in 1998.

He also won the Golden Ball for the best player in the tournament at the 2006 World Cup, despite his infamous sending off in the final match against Italy for directing a headbutt to the chest of Italian Marco Materazzi.

Regarding the differences between football in the past and the present, Zidane explained: “I think I am missing something today compared to the past. When I watch matches I want to see a more offensive match. It is true that I miss football in the past somewhat.”

Source: Agencies