Zinedine Zidane was born on 23 June, 1972, in Marseille, France. After a successful six-week trial he left his family home to join Cannes at the age of just 14.
After starring for Cannes and Bordeaux in French football, the cultured midfielder joined Italian giants Juventus in 1996. He won the Serie A title and a Champions League runners-up medal in his first season in Turin.
In 1998, four years after making his international debut ‘Zizou’ was part of France’s World Cup winning side, starring throughout the tournament. Zidane was named Player of the Tournament at Euro 2000, en route to a second successive major tournament success with Les Bleus.
After five glorious seasons with Juventus, where he won two Scudetto’s, the brilliant midfielder was sold to Real Madrid for a world record £46 million in 2001. In the 2002 Champions League final victory over Bayer Leverkusen, Zidane scored one of the greatest goals in the history of the competition hitting a famous volley from long range, with his weaker foot.
Following the 2006 World Cup, where he received the Golden Ball for being named Player of the Tournament, he retired from football. The Frenchman left the game in controversy however, after being sent off for headbutting Marco Materrazzi.
Scoring 31 times in 108 appearances for France, Zidane retired having won a Balon D’Or and three FIFA World Player of the Year awards.
In January 2016, Zidane took charge of his former club Real Madrid. In his initial two and a half seasons, Zidane became the first coach to win the Champions League three times in a row, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup twice each, as well as a La Liga title and a Supercopa de España. Zidane resigned in 2018, but returned to Madrid in 2019 and won another La Liga and a Supercopa de España title before leaving again in 2021.
