Born in Marseille to Algerian parents, Zinedine started his soccer story at the age of 10. He joined the local junior team for Castellane which was called US Saint-Henri. He only spent a year with this team before moving to SO Septemes-Les-Vallons after he was headhunted by the club’s coach – Robert Centenario.
During his four years with this junior team, he was scouted at a training camp by AS Cannes. He was only meant to join the squad for a six-week time period; however, he ended up staying with Cannes for a further four years where he would play professionally for them at age 18. During his time at Cannes, he started gaining reputation and certain other coaches started taking interest in him. He contributed to the team’s first-ever European Qualification as Cannes qualified for UEFA Cup and finished fourth in the league.
In 1992, Zidane transferred from Cannes to Bordeaux where he played for four years. During his time with the team, he helped them win the 1995 Intertoto Cup and they also came runners up to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup of that season. He also acquired the Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 1996 too. Due to his amazing performance in both the Ligue 1 matches and the national tournaments, he was in demand by a lot of the top Euro teams. And in 1996 he left Bordeaux and the Ligue 1 the atmosphere behind to join Juventus in the Serie A.
During his first season with Juve, he was already winning the hearts and respect of his fellow teammates and supporters due to his talent. He helped the team achieve champion’s status in the 1996/97 Serie A as well as the 1996 Intercontinental Cup. Because of his impressive performance during these tournaments, he was awarded the Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year award in just his first season with Juventus. He also scored 7 goals in 32 matches in the following year of losing UEFA Champions League final to Dortmund. With Juventus, he was also awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or for his skill in the 1998 tournaments. However, 2001 saw Zinedine depart from Juventus after an altercation during the 2000/01 Champions League with Hamburger SV.
But after leaving Juventus, Zinedine soon signed a contract with Real Madrid for an astonishing fee of 150 billion Italian lire, which set a new record for the highest costing transfer in football. This contract was for four years in total and he made a fantastic impact straight away. During his first season with Real Madrid, he scored an outstanding goal which was a volley hit with his lesser dominant foot. This goal went on to become a famous moment in the soccer community and ultimately won the match for the squad. It is now considered as the iconic Zidane goal.
While he was playing for Real Madrid he also helped them win the 2002/03 La Liga champions title and was also named the FIFA World Player of the Year. And during his final season with the team, he decided to retire from the field position completely after the 2006 World Cup. For his final match with Real Madrid against Villarreal, the squad had donned commemorative shirts with ‘Zidane 2001 – 2006’ embroidered below the club’s crest. Along with this, fans in the Santiago Bernabeu stands held a banner with the words ‘Thanks for the Magic’.
In 2014, Real Madrid appointed Zinedine Zidane as their B team manager. He coached the youngsters for nearly 2 years when he announced as the Real Madrid’s head manager after the dismissal of Rafa Benitez. He signed a two and a half year deal and made his mark instantly after defeating Barca’s 39 games unbeaten streak at his first El Clasico. He won 3 champions league in a row which was an unthinkable streak that no one thought to accomplish. He won 1 La Liga in 2017. In total, he lead Real Madrid to 8 titles in the span of just 3 years.
After winning the Champions League in 2017, he declared that he “needed a change” and left the managerial job. In 10 months, Zidane was called back as Solari and Lopetegui both could not succeed during their various stints as the managers. Zidane has now signed a contract till 2022 and taken reins back in his hand.
