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Zinedine Zidane Woodyear Gabarron Foundation International Award in Sports 2003
Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born in Marsielle, France on the 23rd of June 1972, his parents are Algerians (Smail and Malika) and he has four siblings, Djamel, Farid, Nourredine and Lila.
From a very young age he had a liking for sports, by the age of four he already knew how to ride a bike and at the age of six he began to practice judo. A few years later he went to the stadium in Marsielle and fell in love with whom he considered an excellent player, Enzo Francescoli, who then played in the Olympique and who still is admired for his game in the River Plate.
At the age of 14, he left his family and went to Cannes. He lived in the house of the club manager, Jean Claude Elineau, who took him in and treated him like a son.
His debute in the French First Division was on the 20th of May 1989, in a game against Nantes under Luis Fernandez, who was then the trainer-player of Cannes. After leaving Cannes, he was signed on to Girondins of Burdeos, the team that catapulted him into fame, with a great performace in the UEFA Cup in 1996.
Before he had achieved what he was for him a great satisfaction: to be classified for the Eurocup of England. There he learned that a great champion should prepare himself exhaustively to be in shape for the important moments. Zidane began to play with the French national together with Pedros, Llacer, Nouma and Ouedec and made his debute on the 17th of August of 1994, scoring two goals against the Czech Republic.
He especially remembers the 3-0 that the Girondins endorsed him against Milan in Burdeos in the eighth final of the UEFA Cup of which they were subchampions. Perhaps that game, together with the great season of the team in Europe gave him the pass to Calcio and to worldwide fame. With the Girondins he played 34 league games and scored six goals in the last season. Zidane takes a risk and says that the Gold Ball of 1996 achieved by Sammer is not fair. Many in Turin believe that in 1997 it could be for him. Meanwhile, Zinedine enjoys Italian pasta and learns Italian to be able to understand the movies in the cinema, which was his great passion in Marsielle, where he went two to three times a week.
1998 is the year of his consecration. His magnificant performance in the French World Cup, above all the final against Brazil where he scored 2 of the 3 goals scored by France, gave him a World title and helped him receive the Gold Ball as the best football player of the year. And to top it off, he was able to win the Eurocup 2000 with France. He has dazzled with his game, with his intelligence in the field and he has demonstrated that he doesn´t lose his nerve in important moments. So much so, that he is currently considered the best player in the world.
Many already have compared him to Platini, but he believes that they only have their field position in common, since he believes that he still has a lot to learn to reach the legandary French 10, who also wore white and black for Juve, an old dream of Zidane.
Zinedine is fast, physically powerfull and has an exceptional technical quality and game vision. Even though he plays in the center of the field, he usually scores a good number of goals thanks to his hard shots. He masterly launches the fouls and his only dark point is his excessive coldness. His obsession was to demonstrate in a powerful league like the Italian League, everything that he learned in France.
What he has achieved, and has been excited by his game, has conquered titles like the Scudetto the Supercup of Europe , and the International Cup with the Juve. He has arrived to the final of the Champions League in two ocassions, and maybe there was something left to do, to win the so valued Europe Cup.
In the summer of 2001, Zinedine signed on with Real Madrid, Zizou arrives to a team full of stars hoping to get the only title that they have left to win, the Europe Cup. It was the Centenary season of the club, chosen that year as the best team of the 20th century by the FIFA, and his move to the team had generated a lot of expectation, it had converted him in the most expensive deal of in the history of football costing 13,000 million pesetas. With him on board, Madrid was converted into a team full of stars with Figo, Raul, Roberto Carlos and now Zidane.
The 25th of May 2002, Zidane fulfills his dream to win the European Cup and in an unforgetable final, where he scores the goal of victory, Real Madrid achieves its ninth Europe Cup, and Zizou wins, in recognition of his great season, the title of the Most Valuable Player of the championship.
CV and Titles
This is a man with an imposing background: world champion and of Europe and France, winner of the Italian League with the Juve, indisputable leader of all of the teams where he has played, Gold Ball, best player of the planet according to FIFA. He is recognizable in every corner of the earth and in his country he is a national hero.
French Selection
World Cup > 1996
Eurocup of Nations > 2000
Juventus
European Supercup > 1996
Intercontinental Cup > 1996
Italian League > 1997
Italian League > 1998
Supercup of Italy > 1997
Real Madrid
Supercup of Spain > 2001
Europe Cup > 2002
Supercup of Europe > 2002
Intercontinental Cup > 2002
Spanish League > 2003
Individual
Gold Ball > 1998
Player of the Year FIFA > 1998
Player of the Year FIFA > 2000
Most Valuable Player UEFA > 2002