Football and other important things in Zidane's life

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Football and other important things in Zidane's life

Beijing, May 30 (Xinhua) It's decided: the World Cup 2006 in Germany will be the swan song of Zinedine Zidane, the ultimate midfield soccer star of Les Blues, maybe also of the soccer world of our time.

'I just wanted to announce that after the World Cup, I'm going to give up football,' Zidane had told Canal+ television last month.

'It may seem a little strange with two weeks still to go in the league and 50 days before the start of the World Cup, but it's a decision I've thought long and hard about and I wanted to get it off my chest,' he had underlined.

After that, he will be hanging up his boots and maybe assume a new role of soccer manager with his Real Madrid club.

A French of Algerian origin, Zidane was born in Marseilles in France in 1972. Zinedine's soccer career started in Bordeau, a western French city famous for its wine. Here, he played for four seasons and became an international player for France.

In 1996, he joined Juventus, in Italy. Since then he has helped his Juventus team mates to many victories, including the National Championship title 1996/97, the Toyota Cup 1996/97 and the European Supercup 1996/97.

An exquisite player who never stops working to improve his control and skills, Zidane reached the crest of his career in 1998, the year France hosted the 16th World Cup for soccer.

The French team were given an outside chance of winning, but to everyone's surprise, they made it through to the finals. In the final, France faced a head on clash with the defending World Champions, Brazil.

Zidane's two headers stunned Brazil in the first half of their championship match on July 12 at the Stade de France just outside Paris. These goals gave the French a 2-0 lead. A third goal was added by the team in the second half to win. The French team had beaten the strongest team in the world!

Obviously, the most important contributor to this glory was Zidane, a man weighs about 80 kg and is 1.85 metre in height.

Two years later, he led France to capture 2000 European crown, making his country the only one to make the double exploit in European soccer history. Two more years later, he scored the winning goal in Real Madrid's 2002 Champions' League triumph, and earning the widely-held reputation as the world's best player with his peerless, often impossible-looking displays of technique and control.

An extrovert on the playing field and a quiet family man off it, Zidane is also involved in charity work in France and North Africa. Since 2001, Zidane has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Development Programme, and he also represents the European Leukodystrophy Association in its efforts to battle the deadly genetic disease of the nervous system.

'There are things in this world that are more important than football,' once said Zidane.

This summer, he has also been a star at Cannes - on celluloid. A film named 'Zidane, a 21st century portrait' shows Zidane 'at his most authentic' and features footage shot on April 24 last year of his showing in a league match against Villarreal at the Bernabeu.

This film, directed by Douglas Gordon and Phil Parreno, had been selected for the gala's out-of-competition section.

'We were looking to produce a portrait of a man of the 21st century and it turned out Zidane was this man,' said Gordon.

'He can represent something important for many football fans and at the same time represents something that goes beyond that.'

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Football and other important things in Zidane's life